A Heart So True
by tinybabyleafs
Summary: Trainers are vanishing. Team Rocket is rising. And no one has a clue what's happening. When these seemingly random attacks start hitting closer to home, Ash Ketchum and a few close friends are hot on their trail—but the stakes are high, and the danger is more real than they ever could have imagined. Pokeshipping, Contestshipping, and other pairings. T for violence/mild language.
1. PART I: The Spark

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 _I want to be the very best,_

 _Like no one_ _ever_ _was..._

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 **Chapter One**

 **Beginning of Part I: The Spark**

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Ash's sigh was long and lonely.

The Kalos League was over and he needed somewhere to go. Something to do. A new journey, a new challenge. Maybe a new region.

He itched to battle, to compete, to adventure. He yearned for the excitement and uncertainty that came with a Pokémon journey. For a few weeks now, he had been at home, resting up and spending time with his mom. It was nice, but every once in awhile, there were moments when Ash just ached to be on the road again.

And as the new Pokémon League season approached, those moments had been occurring much more frequently.

Ash gazed out the window, affectionately scratching Pikachu behind the ears. The sleeping Pokémon was snuggled comfortably in his trainer's lap, his little body rising and falling gently with each breath.

As for Ash, he was waiting now. His mom was out grocery shopping, and with nothing to do and no one to talk to, he could only wait for the one thing he'd been looking forward to for days now: Misty's arrival.

A group of trainers had come by about a week ago to challenge her, so when Ash had called asking her to visit, she'd been forced to decline. She had promised to visit once she had handled all of the challenges, but considering the need to fully rest her Pokemon between battles, Ash was waiting for awhile.

Regardless, Misty was eventually able to travel to Pallet, and today was the day she'd finally arrive. So there Ash sat, drumming his fingers on the windowsill and staring out at his quiet, drowsy hometown.

He smiled softly.

However much he loved to travel around the world with his Pokémon, Pallet Town would always be home. And Ash loved it here.

He had just begun to doze off when it caught his eye: a speck of motion in his peripheral vision. Ash eagerly pressed his face against the glass as a very familiar redhead walked down the little dusty road to his house.

"Pikachu." Ash gently shook the sleeping Pokémon. "Pikachu, c'mon, Misty's here!"

Pikachu yawned and gazed up at Ash with a dazed, groggy look in his eyes.

"Misty's here," Ash repeated excitedly, picking his partner up and spinning him around the room. "She's really here!" Ecstatic, he set Pikachu back on the window seat and rushed upstairs to his room. He halted at the doorway for a moment, considering.

Then, quick as a flash, he grabbed a hat off his dresser and bounded back down the stairs.

As Ash tugged his shoes on, Pikachu finally seemed to be waking up. Now fully aware, the little Pokémon was just as excited as Ash was, bouncing around the room and nagging Ash to hurry up.

"Pikachu pika!"

"Okay, okay! I'm almost ready. Just gotta tie my other-"

" _Pika_!" Unwilling to wait any longer, Pikachu grabbed Ash's hat and scampered out the door.

"Whoa! Pikachu, wait!" Abandoning his half-tied shoelace, Ash leaped up and dashed after Pikachu. The yellow mouse darted across the yard before racing down the dirt road, not slowing down for a second. Ash was hot on his tail.

Pikachu finally stopped just in front a familiar pair of pink tennis shoes. Ash skidded to a halt. He looked down at the shoes, then up at the person to whom they belonged.

"Misty," he whispered.

She didn't speak, only staring at him silently. They held each other's gazes for several long moments, and then she lunged at him.

"Ash!" Misty cried, throwing her arms around him. Startled, Ash stood rigidly at first, before returning the embrace with equal vigor.

"Aw man, Mist', it's been too long." Ash pulled back and grinned.

She bit back a smile of her own and opted instead for a playful shove. "It certainly has been! How many months were you gone this time? And you never even called to say hi!"

Ash's cheeks heated up as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I know, I just... got busy."

"Right." Misty rolled her eyes, then cast him a coy smile. "Well, I guess now's our chance to make up for lost time. What do you say?"

Ash nodded excitedly, but before either of the two could say anything else, Pikachu leaped up onto Misty's shoulder, determined not to be ignored. "Pikachupi!" it cried, nuzzling Misty happily.

"Pikachu!" Misty said, eyes lighting up as she hugged the Mouse Pokemon. "Is it just me, or have you gotten cuter?"

Pikachu blushed at Misty's comment, then held up Ash's hat. "Pika pika!" The yellow Pokemon then reached up and placed the cap firmly on Misty's head.

"What's that, Pikachu?" Misty pulled the hat off with a frown. It took her a second to register what she was looking at, and once she had, her breath caught in surprise.

"It's... the hat," Misty said, swallowing, after what felt like ages. She hadn't seen it in so long- the hat Ash had worn during their journeys through Kanto and Johto.

"Yeah..." Ash looked away. "It's been awhile since I've worn it, and I figured-"

Interrupting him, Misty reached out and placed it on Ash's stark black hair. "Back where it belongs," she said softly. "I missed seeing it on you. Remember how you used to talk about it? You would go on and on about how important it was..." She glanced away. "And then you just..."

Ash nodded. His cheeks heated up, though he didn't fully understand why. "Uh-huh. I kept it safe in my room, I just..." He shrugged. "Got a few new ones."

Misty dug her nails into her palms. "Why don't we go back to your house?" she suggested, her voice tight, not quite able to pin down the reason why she was now blinking away tears.

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Bonnie banged her little fist on the door to her brother's workroom. "Are you coming or not?"

"Alright, alright, just a few more minutes... there's one more adjustment I have to make!"

The little lemon-haired girl scowled as she called, "You said that last time, and it's been ten minutes! Dad's special dinner is gonna get cold!"

"Okay, fine, I'm coming..." The door swung open, and a tired and sweaty Clemont stepped out. "Sorry about that, Bonnie. I was just-"

"Working on another invention of yours," Bonnie finished with a giggle. "I know. Now come on! You have to wash your hands before you eat." Clemont glanced down and realized she was right. His palms were covered in black grease.

"Right. Give me a second." Clemont started to adjust his glasses, stopped himself, and hurried down the hall to the bathroom.

While she waited for him, Bonnie's eyes drifted to the door on her right, which Clemont had left ajar. She stepped over to close it, but she couldn't resist a little peek.

There were spare parts and electrical wires strewn all over the place. It looked like a mess, but Bonnie knew it was very organized—in a way that only Clemont could understand. In the center of it all was an unfinished machine that, so far, looked like a cross between a bubble blower and an assault rifle.

Bonnie grinned. Her brother's inventions were usually a lot of fun—well, if they didn't explode.

She heard footsteps coming through the hallway and quickly shut the door. "Are you ready now?" Bonnie said cheerfully.

"I certainly am," Clemont replied, pushing up his glasses. "I can't wait to see what Dad made this time."

"I hope Blaziken helped him with the cooking. Last time he tried the oven, it exploded almost as badly as one of your machines!"

"Hey! I take offense to that remark."

"Well, it's true. You can't deny that most of your inventions blow up. Um... ninety percent of them, probably."

"What? Ninety percent? You're overestimating," Clemont complained. Bonnie laughed.

They continued to bicker good-naturedly as they walked, finding comfort in the easy relationship they shared. Once they reached the kitchen, however, the smell was enough to stop them both in their tracks.

"Oooh, yummy!" Bonnie squealed, jumping up and down. "That looks so good, Dad!"

It was a modest meal, certainly nothing like the lavish displays you'd see on cooking channels, but the lemon-haired siblings knew that their father's cooking was every bit as delicious as any five-star restaurant.

"Dig in, kids," Meyer said, eyes twinkling.

Bonnie and Clemont didn't wait. Bonnie generously heaped food onto her plate, and while Clemont was a bit more conservative with his food, he was no less eager. It had been awhile since their father had been able to make a genuine home-cooked meal.

"Thanks, Dad," Clemont said with a smile as he watched Meyer take a seat at the table.

His father grinned, playfully tousling Clemont's hair. "You're welcome, son."

* * *

The blonde woman yawned. "Man, that _does_ smell good," she mumbled. "I want some... hey, are you sure we can't just take the kid now and grab some grub while we're at it?"

Her comment was met with a sigh. "You know we have to wait," her silver-haired partner replied, rolling her eyes. "We need more information first. Plus, it's better to nab him while he's alone."

"But Domino's group has already started! It's not fair," the blonde bemoaned loudly. "She's getting all the glory, and we haven't caught a single trainer yet-"

The silver-haired woman elbowed her. "Hush up or they'll hear us!"

The blonde scowled, but she reluctantly obliged, lowering her voice. "I heard they're getting another one tonight—some coordinator girl."

"Really," she replied, uninterested.

"Uh-huh. One of Domino's lackeys was bragging earlier today."

Her partner sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "Don't _worry_ about it, okay? Our hit list is longer anyway. Gio trusts us more, and we're going to follow through." The silver-haired woman smirked. "We just need to time it right. And you know we're getting those researchers tomorrow, so stop complaining."

"That's right! I almost forgot." The blonde laughed. "Things'll get really interesting then, won't they?"

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"Hey, Ashy-boy, check this out."

Gary pulled a small cardboard box out of his pocket and slid it across the dinner table. Much to Ash's delight, Gary and his grandfather had decided to join them for dinner. (He was slightly less delighted when Gary started up with the usual teasing remarks, but I digress.) The five people were now gathered in the dining room, all enjoying a wonderful home-cooked meal courtesy of Ash's mother.

Ash frowned and picked up the box, examining it. "What's in there?"

"You're supposed to open it," Gary replied dryly, resting his chin in his hand. Ash scowled at him and did so, muttering "I know that" under his breath. Curious, Misty leaned closer and peered at the box as well. The moment Ash pulled off the lid, both pairs of eyes widened.

"No way..." He looked back up at Gary. "This is a Mega Stone, isn't it? That's so cool! I didn't know you had one of these!"

"Yep." Gary smirked. "It's Blastoisinite. I don't have a Key Stone yet, but I was at a big archaeological dig with Professor Rowan when we found this. We sent it to Professor Sycamore to study it-"

"You know Professor Sycamore?" Ash exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table. "That's awesome! So do I! Hey, Mom, remember that time I jumped off the Lumiose Tower? You know, my first day in Kalos?"

At this, Delia and Professor Oak laughed nervously, while Gary and Misty stared at Ash, dumbfounded. "You _what_...?" Gary muttered under his breath.

"I was up there because I was helping out Professor Sycamore's Garchomp," Ash continued, completely oblivious to their reactions. "He's a really cool guy! He was the one to teach me about Mega Evolution in the first place." Ash snapped the lid shut and handed the box back to Gary. "So how do you know him?"

Gary recovered from his shock—we are talking about Ash, after all; jumping off a building isn't exactly the crazing thing he's done—and raised his eyebrows at Ash. "Don't you know? Gramps and Sycamore know each other pretty well. We sent him the stone, and when he figured out it was for Blastoise, he sent it back and told me to keep it."

With another smirk, he added, "It's good to have a grandfather in the Pokemon business, isn't it?"

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May hummed to herself as she doodled in her notebook. She wasn't the best at drawing, but several years of coordinating had served to develop her artistic skills. At the moment, she was sketching some ideas for the contest she'd be competing in soon.

Most coordinators would have their appeals and battle strategies worked out and practiced at least three or four days beforehand—May giggled as a certain name came to mind—but the brunette had never been one for meticulous planning or preparedness. She was gifted at improvising, and she used that to its full advantage in her performances. She and her Pokemon planned and practiced, sure, but things usually didn't go as expected, and that often worked out for the better.

So here she was, just three nights before the contest, with only a few rough sketches of possible appeals. Tomorrow, May decided, she'd really get down to business. She wondered briefly if she should use her Skitty or her Wartortle for the appeal round—Skitty was adorable, of course, but she had an idea for Wartortle that could turn out beautifully—when she noticed the clock hanging on the wall of her room.

It was ten minutes to midnight.

"No!" May yelped, scrambling to her feet. "No way! It's almost _midnight_?" She groaned and smacked her forehead. "You've got to be kidding me... Why does time pass so quickly? It's not my fault I can never keep track when all the minutes run away like that..." She pouted. "And I promised I'd meet Drew for coffee at eight tomorrow..."

May paced for several minutes, muttering to herself, before slamming her notebook shut. She quickly threw on her pajamas and climbed into bed.

"Well, if I go to sleep now, I can still make it..." She set her alarm and placed her phone on her bedside table. "Eight hours is almost enough, I think." The coordinator yawned. She rolled over and tried to get comfy. She couldn't look tired in front of Drew in the morning; that was just _asking_ for a snide remark.

She and Drew were staying in the same Pokemon Center while they trained for the upcoming contest. They didn't technically travel together, but they were often in the same place at the same time, and this happened to be one of those occasions. Earlier that day, to her surprise, Drew had asked her to join him for coffee the next morning, and May was more excited about it than she was willing to admit.

Though they were rivals, May tentatively considered him a friend, and she hoped upon hope that he felt the same way towards her.

 _Fall asleep,_ she willed herself. _Fall asleep, fall asleep, fall asleep..._

She had just begun to drift off when a gloved hand clamped over her mouth.

May let out a startled _mmph_. She heard hushed voices, but she was hardly able to make out what they were saying. What was this, someone's idea of a prank?

"... to kill her?"

"No, he wants her alive..."

Out of the corner of her eye, May saw a knife holstered in the belt of one of her captors. The pieces fell into place, and she realized what was happening in the next second. This was no prank.

May lashed out in all directions, kicking and punching, but several more hands grabbed her by her wrists and ankles. Moments later, coarse rope dug into her skin, binding her. Terrified, May bit down hard on the hand covering her mouth, provoking a pained _hiss_ from one of her captors. But her triumph lasted only a moment before a strip of duct tape replaced the hand, and May was suddenly helpless.

Panic set in.

She struggled and thrashed, bumping into furniture and slamming into her captors. Things fell. Something crashed on the wooden floor. She made all the noise she could, desperately hoping for someone to hear her and come to her rescue.

Then something small and sharp sank into her arm. She was overcome by an intense drowsiness, and suddenly she was barely able to keep her eyes open. The last thing she remembered was the sound of high-pitched laughter before she lost consciousness entirely.

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 **Well, of _course_ there's a cliffhanger at the end of the first chapter. How else would I get you to stick around? ;) **


	2. Search and Capture

**To everyone who reviewed, thank you! I really appreciate your support, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story. :)**

 **I apologize for the enormous wait for this chapter. The updates will be few and far between until I've written several chapters ahead, and then I'll create more of a schedule.**

 **This will be a four-part story with somewhere around 100 chapters in total** **. I think. That's a very rough estimate. It could be a lot shorter or a lot longer...**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

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 **Chapter Two**

 **Search and Capture**

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"So what are you doing tomorrow? Sleeping and eating, I'm guessing?"

May turned bright red. "N-no! Well, I mean, yes, I guess everyone has to sleep and eat, but that's not all I'm doing! I'm going to—t-train and stuff!" She crossed her arms and huffed angrily. "And what are you doing, Mr. Perfect?"

He shrugged. "Training for the Goldenrod Contest."

She gave a loud, exaggerated sigh. "That's all? Sheesh. All you _ever_ do is train."

For some reason, her comment bugged Drew. He frowned. "I do other things."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah? Name five things you're doing tomorrow, _besides_ training."

"W-well, I'm..." Drew's cheeks heated slightly; he hated being put on the spot. "Uh... Solidad will probably call to check up on me, so I guess I'll talk to her."

"Okay." May raised her eyebrows. "Now four more."

Drew fumbled for a response. "Well, I'll... I'll probably watch some contest videos to get tips, and—"

"Wrong!" May giggled. "That counts as training." She seemed delighted to have the upper hand for once.

"Well, what do you expect?" Drew replied with a scowl. "The contest is only a few days away... Oh." He blinked, recalling something obvious. "I get coffee every morning. That's two."

May's eyes lit up suddenly. "Really? Me too, sometimes!" Drew bit back a remark about how she was hyper enough as it was _without_ caffeine, while she continued to ramble excitedly. "Where do you get your coffee? There's this one chain of cafes that I really like, but they don't have them in Johto... I think it's called Moonbucks. Hey, maybe we could get coffee together sometime!" She grinned. "What time do you usually go?"

He shrugged. "Around eight." He considered flatly turning her down her offer, but—much as he'd like to deny it—a large part of him actually liked the idea. Lately, they had been spending a lot more time together that didn't have anything to do with their rivalry, and Drew appreciated that. So without really thinking, he added, "Why don't you join me tomorrow?"

She said okay, and he wondered for a moment why his stomach fluttered slightly at her response. He realized later, however, that he already knew the answer.

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Quite frankly, Domino was exhausted.

She had planned to take a nap or something, but the day had been too busy and suddenly it was too late. She regretted it now. Domino was about ready to fall asleep. If she sat here for any longer...

Luckily for her, she didn't have to. There was a click as the door opened and young girl of about fourteen walked in, humming happily to herself. Short brown hair. Blue eyes. A bandana with a Pokéball logo. Domino smiled.

This would be an easy one.

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Drew had always been a morning person. He knew that May wasn't, however, and so he half expected her to be a little late to the coffee shop. He was there at 7:45 sharp, absently drumming his fingers on the table for two.

He didn't really know why he'd asked her. Then again, he hadn't been the one to propose the idea; she had essentially invited herself, which was typical of May. To her surprise—and to his own as well—he had agreed.

He waited patiently for what felt like an eternity. When he checked his watch at 8:15, he realized that she probably wasn't coming. It hadn't been an official date or anything, but he was hoping she'd show up, and the fact that she didn't disappointed him more than he would have liked to admit.

Then again, he admonished himself, they were only rivals. Why should he even care if she came? Why should _she_ care?

He stayed for a few minutes more before reluctantly getting up, ordering his own drink, and leaving. Then he headed into the nearby woods to train.

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Iris groaned and dropped her head onto the table. Why was it taking so long...? It felt like it had been hours. Curiously, she glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall of the Pokémon Center and nearly screamed.

It had only been five minutes.

"Ugh, why can't time just go by _faster_?" she complained, sprawling herself out dramatically across the table. She waited as more seconds ticked by altogether too slowly. It would probably take at least twenty minutes for her Pokémon to be fully healed—they weren't badly hurt or anything, just in need of being refreshed—and Iris was not interested in waiting that long for anything.

Eventually, Iris slid off the table, stood up, and stretched. A walk would help pass the time, she decided. And since she'd only recently arrived in Azalea Town, she had yet to see all the sights here.

Iris had been casually collecting the Johto gym badges over the past year, and a few Kanto badges along the way, while she explored the region and trained for her rematch with Clair. She had yet to battle the Azalea gym, however, and she was looking forward to the challenge.

The purple-haired girl sighed and meandered out of the Pokémon Center. She strolled up the streets, peering into shop windows and greeting people and Pokémon as she met them. It was a small town, but everyone seemed really friendly and welcoming.

It reminded Iris of her village, and even though the town was foreign and the people all looked different than she did, it felt somehow familiar.

She'd been delighted by all the new Pokémon, people and customs that she had encountered so far in Johto. But this was the first time that Iris had felt at home in a long while, and she liked it.

As she admired a handmade dreamcatcher at a little curio stall, however, something happened that completely turned her day on its head.

She'd recall it later and realize it wasn't just her day that was turned on its head. What happened in that moment was the beginning of something huge, something that would change her life—and thousands of others.

Not that she knew it then.

"Iris! There you are!"

Someone was shouting her name.

The dark-haired trainer looked up, startled, and her surprise was only heightened when she saw the one who had been calling her: a young, pale-faced, green-haired gentleman whom she knew very well.

"C-Cilan!" Iris stammered, shocked. Why was he here? What did he mean, _"there you are?"_ Had he been looking for her?

And how long had it been since she'd seen him last?

Iris tried to voice her questions, but she couldn't get any of them out before she was crushed in his embrace. Iris let out an _"oof!"_ of surprise.

"Thank goodness you're alright," he said when he pulled back, running an anxious hand through his hair. The ever calm and collected Cilan... Unease bubbled up in Iris's stomach. Something happened.

Cilan then began rambling, which did nothing to sate her confusion.

"When I saw the news, about the attack and everything, the first one I thought of was you. I happened to be in Violet City at the time, and they were playing it on all the news channels. Since you had just called to tell me you were going to Azalea..." He shook his head. "I got here as fast as I could."

"Wait, what?" Iris shook herself free of his embrace and hastily handed her money to the trinket seller. "What are you talking about? What happened?" _And why did he think of me?_

Cilan's face twisted in confusion. "Iris... haven't you heard?"

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Drew stared at the wreckage and tried to think.

His mind was numb. For once in his life, he wasn't overthinking anything. He was just staring at the mess of broken furniture and shattered glass and trying to comprehend anything at all.

He'd had a strange feeling all day after she hadn't shown up at the coffee shop. When he knocked on her door a few hours later and she didn't answer, he tried the doorknob and found it open. She'd always had a problem remembering to lock the door, he remembered absently. The pit of worry in his stomach tightened.

"May? Are you in there?" he had called, cracking the door open just a little. No answer.

He stepped into the room, and his heart dropped into his stomach.

His mind was filled with a dull buzzing noise. The first thing he noticed was the large window across the room. It was shattered, and tiny sparkling shards littered the carpet. The nightstand beside the bed was lying lopsided on the ground, one of the legs splintered off, and the vase that had been sitting on it was smashed on the ground.

Drew stepped back unsteadily. "May...?"

What terrified him the most, however, were the several small spatters of blood on the carpet near the window.

Drew called her name again, louder, but it was clear that May—and whatever else had been in here—was long gone. Drew stumbled out into the hallway in a daze. His hands shook as he pulled out his phone and dialed 911. His mind was filled with a dull roar, too numb to think properly, but his fingers moved without thinking; he'd never been so grateful that the three-digit emergency number was drilled so deeply into his head.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"My fr—my rival, I mean, she's gone—I think someone broke into her room—there's blood and the window's broken and I-I haven't seen her all day..." Drew mentally cursed himself. Why was he stuttering so much?

"Okay, can you tell me the exact location of your emergency?" The dispatcher sounded like a young woman. She sounded calm. Composed.

Drew took a deep breath. _Calm down._ "I'm at the Goldenrod City Pokémon Center." _Just stay calm. Breathe._

They asked him more questions and he answered to the best that he could. The dispatcher said something about being on their way, and then she hung up.

Drew didn't know what to do. He kind of just stood there for several moments, utterly lost in a sea of unfamiliar emotions. May was gone. From the looks of it, she'd been kidnapped, and who knew what happening to her now-

Drew's breath caught. The thought crossed his mind that she could be dead. No, he told himself. There was no way. Not May.

A singsong tone jingled through the air, startling him. His phone was ringing.

Drew slid a hand into his pocket and pulled it out. He stared at the screen. Solidad was calling him—just as he'd expected her to. Drew gazed at it for several seconds before pressing the bright red IGNORE button.

He couldn't talk to her right now.

But Solidad was stubborn. When his phone rang a second time, he merely ignored it again, but when it rang for the third time he realized she was not going to give up. Bracing himself, Drew answered it, and Solidad's cheerful voice answered.

"Glad you finally decided to talk to me. So what have you been up to today? Training, I'd guess. Are you ready for the contest?"

Drew opened his mouth to respond, but his words stuck in his throat. There was a long pause.

"Drew? Are you there?"

The green-haired coordinator tried to steady himself, but hearing her voice shook him. When he did speak, his voice sounded strange.

"Solidad, I... where are you?"

"I'm in Ecruteak City, but I'll be in Goldenrod for the contest tomorrow. Why?" There was another, heavier pause, and then, "Drew, is everything okay?"

There it was: Solidad could always tell when something was off. Drew usually hated that she knew him so well, but right now it was almost comforting.

"I... it's... no, it's not." Drew closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Can you come to Goldenrod? Now?"

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"Alright, Pikachu! Thunderbolt, let's go!"

Pikachu dashed forward, sending a Thunderbolt streaking toward Misty's Staryu, but the purple star darted out of the way. "Hit him with a Rapid Spin!" Misty yelled, and the Star Shape Pokémon slammed into Pikachu, dealing a fair amount of damage and leaving Pikachu dazed.

"Come on, you can do this," Ash urged. "You've already worn it down—one more hit and we've won!"

"Don't get too cocky," Misty replied with a smirk. "Pikachu isn't looking too hot either."

Ash only grinned. "If anyone can stand up to you, it's Pikachu. I know he can."

The little Mouse Pokémon struggled to his paws. "Pika!"

"Alright!" Ash grinned. "C'mon, Pikachu—Electro Ball!"

Pikachu leaped into the air, cheeks sparking, and sent flying a fierce ball of electricity. "Dodge it!" Misty cried, but it was too late. With a _bang_ , the Electro Ball struck a direct hit, and when the smoke cleared Staryu was left clearly unfit to battle. Ash and Pikachu cheered while Misty jogged onto the field.

The redhead placed a gentle hand on her Staryu. "You were great," she said as she pulled out its Pokéball. "Take a little rest, okay? If you're feeling better tomorrow, we're headed to the beach!"

"Oh, that's right!" Ash said with a grin, Pikachu in his arms. "I forgot about that. That'll be fun, won't it, Pikachu?"

"Pika, pikachu!"

"As long as he doesn't use Thunderbolt in the water again," Misty muttered.

"Hey!" Ash said defensively. "That happened _once_. And it was a long time ago!"

"Pika!"

Misty laughed, stood up, and brushed off her shorts. "I know. I'm sure you both have..." She faltered. "You've changed a lot in the past few years, huh?"

Ash froze.

There it was again: that wistful, bittersweet tone. The same one he'd heard yesterday. His stomach twisted with guilt.

Before yesterday's reunion, it really had been a long time since they'd last seen one another—since they had last spoken, even. Ash laughed, but it came out forced. "Well, I dunno. We're a lot stronger, for sure!"

When she spoke again, the odd sadness was gone from Misty's voice; she sounded just as chipper as ever. "You sure are. Come on—let's head over to Professor Oak's! I want to see Totodile and your other Pokémon again! I bet they've missed me just as much as Pikachu has," she teased. The little mouse Pokémon gave a "Chu!" of assent.

"R-Right!" Ash grinned, relieved that the topic was finally back to something he was more familiar with. "Yeah, Totodile always used to have lots of fun with your other Pokémon." He jogged to catch up with her. "Then again, I guess Totodile's always having fun, no matter what!"

"True," Misty agreed as she strolled up the path. They walked in comfortable silence for awhile, enjoying the beautiful scenery. Pallet Town had always been a charming little place, and the nature surrounding it was lovely as ever.

"So where are you thinking of going next?" Misty asked.

"Huh?"

"You know. Your next journey. Which region are you headed for?"

Ash frowned. He hadn't really thought about it yet. "I dunno," he said with a shrug. "I guess I'll just end up somewhere. Stumble across a new region or something. That's how it usually happens."

Misty nodded. "Oh."

After a moment, she added quietly, "Well, you could always come back to Kanto."

"What do you mean?" Ash said, confused.

"Travel this region again. Battle all the gym leaders a second time, compete in your home league again—it could be a lot of fun!" She seemed really excited about the idea, and Ash had to admit that it sounded really cool.

"Pika! Pikachu!" Pikachu, at least, seemed to be on board with the idea. Ash grinned. Maybe he _could_ do that.

He'd be a lot closer to home, that's for sure.

Misty looked up. "Oh! We're almost there—come on!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the lab, and Ash let out a "whoa!" as he stumbled up the steps after her. She reached up to knock, but just as she was about to, the door swung open.

Professor Oak blinked in surprise.

"Oh. Hello, Misty." He noticed Ash beside her and added, "Hi, Ash. Why're you two here?"

"We're gonna spend some time with my Pokémon," Ash said. "Is Gary here?"

"Yes, he's out back. He's feeding the Pokémon, if you'd like to help." Professor Oak stepped back and allowed them in before walking down the steps. "I'm headed to the Pokémart. They just received a new shipment of potions, and I've been running low. I'll see you tonight—Delia invited us over for dinner again."

"Okay. Bye, Professor!" Ash called. Misty shut the door and whispered, "Race you to the back door." The two took off through the lab, laughing and—in Ash's case—barely avoiding walls and doorframes.

Misty slammed her palm against the door. "I win!"

Ash was right behind her. "I stubbed my toe..." he complained as Misty pushed the door open and stepped out.

"Yeah, well, I still won." Misty grinned.

Ash's eyes widened as they walked into the open air. The Oak Corral never failed to impress him: it was enormous in size, and everywhere he looked, Pokémon played and thrived, always well taken care of and happy. Perhaps the only human-maintained Pokémon habitat that was more impressive than this was the Safari Zone.

"Gary!" Ash yelled, waving. "Hey, Gary!"

The young researcher looked up from where he was attempting to comb the fur of a particularly feisty Snubbull. Unfortunately for Gary, as soon as he took his eyes off her, she tackled him.

"Ow! No, c'mon, I'm just trying to—ow! Cut it out!" Gary tried to push the Snubbull off of him, wincing as she bit his hand. "Heya, Ashy-boy. Don't know what's gotten into this girl—she usually loves when I groom her. Looks like she's in a bad mood today. Catch," he added, and with a smirk, he tossed Ash a basket full of berries. Ash didn't catch it.

"Whoa!" Misty lunged forward to grab it. A few berries tumbled out onto the grass as Ash floundered in midair and fell, and Misty and Gary burst out laughing.

"Ow..." Ash groaned and stood up. "Hey! Stop laughing!" He turned an accusing gaze to Pikachu, who was rolling on the ground in stitches. "Come on—is _anyone_ on my side here?"

Misty smiled and reached down to pick up a few of the berries. As Ash bent down to help, Misty said, "Do me a favor, Ash."

"What?" he replied, still scowling.

She shook her head. "Don't ever change."

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"Is that him?"

"That's him, alright."

"Now?"

"No! Not yet. On my signal. We'll wait until he's alone."

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	3. The Fourth Attack

**This chapter's almost double the length of the last one, so I hope you enjoy it. It's a pretty exciting one, too.** **Happy reading!**

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Chapter Three

The Fourth Attack

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Solidad should not have been driving that fast, but frankly, she didn't care all that much.

Drew took extra care to hide most of his emotions, but Solidad could usually figure him out; and from the way he'd sounded on the phone, he was badly shaken. Solidad knew from experience that nothing and no one could hurt Drew unless he allowed them to—that is, if he trusted them enough to let down his walls a little. And to her knowledge, the only ones who fit that category were Drew's Pokémon, May, and Solidad herself.

How May had wormed her way in there, Solidad still wondered about sometimes.

She was lucky she didn't run into any cops; she was above the speed limit—by a lot. Solidad checked her watch. He'd called about twenty minutes ago. If she didn't hit any red lights, she'd be there in five.

Solidad took a deep breath. _Please let everything be okay. Please let Drew and his Pokémon and May be okay._

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After Cilan had explained, Iris needed some time for it to sink in.

It had barely happened twenty minutes ago, and already it was all over the news. Cilan had already been on his way to Azalea when he passed by a Pokémon Center with the news channel on, and he'd gotten here as fast as was humanly possible.

It was crazy how fast the media had found out. May Maple, a popular and talented coordinator—and one of Ash's best friends—was missing, and it was clear that she had been taken by force.

"Azalea and Goldenrod are really close, and May is also one of Ash's friends, so I..." Cilan sighed. "I panicked a little, I suppose. I called Ash—his mom answered, and he's fine. I was really worried about both of you."

Iris nodded slowly, her mind buzzing. She frowned, then said after a moment, "Hey, wasn't there some other trainer who went missing? Last week—a girl from Kalos, a gym leader or something? They made a big deal about that."

Cilan and Iris were walking down the street on the way back to the Pokémon Center. "Yes," Cilan replied. "I do remember that." He was quiet for several moments. "Come to think of it, there was another missing trainer a few weeks ago, though I don't recall much detail. I believe she was a coordinator as well."

They reached the Pokémon Center. Cilan opened the doors and allowed Iris to step inside before entering behind her.

"Weird," Iris mumbled.

"It certainly is," Cilan said. They stood together in silence while Nurse Joy retrieved Iris's Pokémon. Iris was biting her knuckles, and from the expression on her face, she was deep in thought.

"Here you are," Nurse Joy said cheerfully. Without a word, Iris snatched the Pokéballs from the tray, grabbed Axew, and stormed out of the building.

"I-Iris!" Cilan protested. He turned to Nurse Joy and began frantically apologizing. "I'm so sorry for her rudeness—she's very, um, independent—I hope she didn't bother you, I'm sorry—"

"Oh, don't worry about it," the nurse said with a smile. "She looks like she's on a mission. Where is she headed? The gym?"

"I have no idea," Cilan replied as he hurried after Iris. "And thank you!"

"Iris," he hissed once he had caught up to her. She was standing on the outskirts of the town, looking out at the Ilex Forest. "What were you thinking, being so impolite? And where are you going?" he added once he saw her release Dragonite.

She ignored him and placed her hand on Dragonite's forehead. They both closed their eyes, and an understanding seemed to pass between them. After several seconds, Dragonite nodded and allowed her to climb onto his back.

Iris turned to Cilan. "I'm going to Goldenrod City to see what's going on, and then after that I'm going to find Ash. Are you coming or not?"

Her gaze burned right through him. Cilan pursed his lips. He'd heard her use that tone of voice before—enough to know what it meant: that her mind was set, and there was no way she was backing down. Finally, he sighed. "Well, I'm not about to let you go on your own. You'll need some form of impulse control..."

Iris's face lit up instantly, and she grabbed his hand. "Great! Dragonite can carry both of us. C'mon!"

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Falkner never felt more alive than when he was soaring.

Though the sun of early spring was warm, the sharp wind whipped his hair back and sent goosebumps racing up his skin. The navy-haired gym leader gripped his Pidgeot's feathers as the Pokémon streaked still faster through the air.

Pidgeot let out a fierce shriek and dove, and Falkner's stomach flip-flopped. He let out a yell of—what? Exhilaration? Fear? Flying like this, he forgot the difference. Nothing in the world could compare to this feeling.

The Bird Pokémon slowed as they neared the ground. Aerodactyl, who had been flying beside them, came in for a landing a few seconds after. Falkner slid off Pidgeot's back. Even though he'd flown with his Pokémon countless times in the past several years, transitioning back to solid ground still felt peculiar; leaving behind the weightlessness of flying, his legs felt as though they were made of lead.

The gym leader stretched his arms as he gazed around the clearing where they'd landed: a small grassy park in the center of Blackthorn City. He breathed in the chilly air. It was refreshing, being farther north.

Falkner reached out to stroke Pidgeot's feathers. "You two want to stay out of your 'balls, I'm guessing?"

Pidgeot chirruped its agreement, and Aerodactyl let out a roar. Falkner winced slightly. The Fossil Pokémon didn't appear to know what an "inside voice" was; there was a reason most of his battles took place on the rooftop.

"Alright. Let's go, then." His destination, the Blackthorn City gym, wasn't far from where they'd landed—in fact, it was just down the street.

As Falkner approached the gym, he wondered briefly why he was here.

He could've just gone out on his own today, as he usually did, but he'd had the passing thought to ask Clair to come with him. He told himself he wasn't really going to, it was just an idea—he wasn't sure she even considered him a friend. But then he was flying toward Blackthorn City anyway, and now here he was.

Falkner walked through the gate and right by the gym, toward a much smaller building beside it: Clair's house. Some gym leaders lived above their gyms or in a room adjacent the gym, but some had separate houses. Falkner knocked on Clair's door.

He heard a call of "Coming!" from somewhere in the house, and a few moments later, Clair opened it. She seemed startled to see him there.

"Falkner! I wasn't expecting you." The blue-haired woman smiled nevertheless as she opened the door wider. "Everything alright?"

"Yes, everything's fine," Falkner replied. "I was just out flying with my Pokémon, and I happened to be near Blackthorn..." That was a lie. His coming here was in every way intentional. "So I was wondering if you'd like to join me." From behind him, his Pidgeot gave a trill of assent.

"Oh." Clair blinked in surprise. They had gone flying together a few times in the past, and she admitted it was a lot of fun. "Yes—that sounds great, actually. I'd love to. But why don't you eat something first? I just made lunch." She knew all too well that Falkner had a tendency to forget everything when he was out with his Pokémon, including most meals.

Falkner's brow furrowed in confusion, proving Clair's point. He opened his mouth to speak, then saw her stifling a laugh and stopped. "Er—oh. Well, in that case, I'd be glad to join you."

They _were_ friends, he decided. He stepped over the threshold, the Key Stone on his wristband glinting in the midday sun.

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Zoey had no idea where she was, but she knew it was bad.

Her hands were cuffed behind her back. Everything around her was dark, and she tasted blood in her mouth. She struggled to sit up for several minutes, as her legs were also bound. Once she was up, she began shuffling around, trying to work out the size of the space where she was being held. It wasn't very big. The Top Coordinator was no expert at judging distances, but it was no bigger than three yards across, she was sure. One side of the cell was not a wall, but a row of metal bars—the door to the cell, from the looks of it.

Why was she here?

She remembered being woken by her Gallade in the middle of the night. She remembered the laughter of the blonde, curly-haired Team Rocket member, and she remembered the dart that she didn't see coming, and after that she didn't remember anything at all.

Did Team Rocket want something? And why her? There had to be a reason...

Zoey heard a voice and immediately tensed up. She knew that voice. It was the voice of the woman who had captured her—snuck up on her in the middle of the night and broken into her room. Zoey's Gallade's sharp senses had served to warn her, and had it been a fair fight, Zoey might have stood a chance—but clearly, the Rocket agent's goal had not been a Pokémon battle.

There was a sharp screeching noise as the cell door opened, and the red-haired trainer froze. A light came on in the hall outside. There were two Rocket agents, a woman and a man—one of whom Zoey recognized. The woman smiled and twirled a strand of blonde hair with one hand. In the other, she held the limp form of a girl.

"Another one already," the man said. "I'm impressed, Domino."

"No need to be," the blonde woman, Domino, said with a laugh as she tossed the captive carelessly into the cell. Zoey cringed as the girl's face hit the cement with a smack. "This is the easy part. Just wait till Gio sets the rest of the plan into motion—then you'll really be in awe."

"I can't wait."

As the cell door was slammed shut and the Rockets walked away, Zoey stepped over her handcuffs so her arms were in front of her, rather than behind, before scrambling over to the other girl. She had short brown hair and was wearing a red bandana, but that was all Zoey saw before the light cut off, leaving them both in darkness once again. She waited another few moments, until she was sure the Rockets were gone, before speaking.

"Hey," Zoey whispered. "You okay?"

She got a groan in response. "Wh-who...?"

"I'm Zoey. Are you okay?" the coordinator repeated.

"I'm... fine..." She didn't sound fine. Zoey did her best to help the other girl sit up. There was blood trickling from her face. Zoey reached up to touch the brunette's cheek and received a sharp _hiss_ of pain in response. The whole left side of her face was badly scraped up. "Okay... _almost_ fine."

Zoey couldn't help but laugh a little, and after a moment, the other girl did too, though a little more weakly.

"Did they capture you, too?" the brunette asked. "With the little dart?"

Zoey bit her lip. "Yeah."

There was a pause. Then, quietly, the other girl asked, "Why?"

The redhead didn't have an answer for that. "Who knows?" she said.

There was a shuffling sound. "I'm scared..." the girl whispered.

Zoey didn't say anything, but she was afraid, too. She heard the brunette take a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was steadier.

"I'm May," she said. "And you said you're... Zoey? Are you—are you Dawn's friend Zoey? The Top Coordinator?"

"That's the one," Zoey said.

"Wow... I've always hoped to meet you one day," May confessed.

"Guess this isn't how you imagined it, huh?"

Silence fell. They sat in the eerie quiet for several long moments before May finally spoke again, more quietly than before.

"What's going to happen to us?"

Zoey shrugged. "No idea. But if I had to guess, I'd say they aren't going to let us out of here alive."

May drew in a sharp breath. "Do you think they're going to..." The words stuck in her throat, and Zoey shrugged again.

"Maybe. If they just wanted to kill us, they would have done that. There's something else they want, right? There's got to be." She closed her eyes, then opened them. No difference. "The best we can do is wait and see."

And she was met with silence once again.

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The Black Tulip smiled.

Things seemed to be going her way today. Two of the three captures had gone off without a hitch—it wasn't that hard; the coordinator girls had been disgustingly weak—and though the other one had gotten away from her, Domino was sure it was only a matter of time before she got her hands on the little brat.

The Team Rocket agent was undeniably ticked off by the girl's close escape. That ugly little roller-skating gym leader didn't just have strong Pokémon; she was extremely physically capable as well, and that was what had caught Domino off-guard. Not anymore, though. She wasn't going to let anything else surprise her.

As she headed up the stairs, she breathed a sigh of relief. The prisoners' floor was dark and creepy, and there was mildew everywhere. She hated being down there, and she was glad to leave. Suddenly, through bits of static, a message came over Domino's radio.

 _"Domino, we think we've found her. We have a sighting near Courmaline City and another on Route 13."_

Domino's smile widened. She knew it. No one could avoid the Black Tulip for very long, if they could escape her at all.

"Good. Keep following her. I'm on my way to Kalos now. You'd better have her by the time I'm there," Domino threatened.

There was more static, and then a confirmation from one of her lackeys that they'd definitely have her by then. Frankly, Domino didn't believe them; the lower-level grunts tended to have big heads, but they did poorly when it came to following through. Whatever. If you want something done right, best do it yourself, after all. Over the course of Domino's many years with Team Rocket, she'd come to live by that motto.

Domino walked through the hallways of the Team Rocket base with an extra spring in her step. She was really getting excited now. The past few weeks, she'd only attempted three captures, but things would be picking up speed now, especially now that Annie and Oakley were finally getting to it. Domino figured she could have this done by the end of next week, at the very latest.

Domino pulled a little notepad out of her pocket. On the topmost page was a list of names. Two had a line drawn through them: May Maple and Zoey Williams. Five remained.

The blonde woman smiled. Back to Kalos she went, this time with two more targets in mind.

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"Turn on the news."

That was all he had said to her.

Earlier that morning, Delia had received a call from one of Ash's old friends—a young man named Cilan, if memory served correctly. She told him that Ash wasn't home and asked what was wrong, but those four words were his only reply, and then he hung up.

So she did. And whatever she was expecting, it wasn't this.

The front door squeaked as it opened, and Delia turned to look toward the foyer, at a loss for what to do. Ash and Misty were laughing as they came in, and Delia noticed for the first time how avid Pikachu was in Ash's conversations. Ash and Misty both treated him like just another person.

It had always been that way, she realized; it just seemed so natural that she'd never really paid attention to it.

"Hey, Mom! You'll never believe what-" Ash's words died in his throat as he ran into the living room, and he came to a dead halt. "Is that... May?"

Misty came in right behind him. "Ash? What's wrong?" she asked before she, too, noticed May's picture being displayed on the television, with the word " **MISSING** " plastered above her face in big black letters.

They both seemed to process what was on the screen at the same time. Ash blanched, and Misty's hands flew to her mouth.

 _"The disappearance of coordinator May Maple isn't the first this month. Just last week, Kalosian gym leader Korrina vanished under similar circumstances, and Top Coordinator Zoey Williams went missing one week prior. Our reporter Buena is currently at the scene, a Pokémon Center in Goldenrod City, Johto, where May's room was found in ruins just this morning."_

 _"That's right, Mary. The crime scene was discovered by her friend and rival, Top Coordinator Drew Hayden, who declined to comment. Police are speculating that May was kidnapped sometime last night. The disappearances of Zoey and Korrina were originally believed to be isolated incidents, but this seems to suggest otherwise. Could these three disappearances be somehow connected? The only common threads between the three girls seem to be that they are all female and they are all Pokémon trainers. Police are working to find answers—and the missing girls—as we speak. Back to you, Mary."_

 _"Thank you, Buena. On a more positive note, Professor Sycamore of Kalos and Professor Rowan of Sinnoh have been collaborating on their research as of late, leading to an incredible breakthrough in the study of Mega Evolution—"_

Delia switched the TV off. The news had done all the explaining for her. Misty was frozen, her face pale. Ash looked livid.

Misty's voice wobbled slightly as she spoke. "Why... why would anyone—"

"It doesn't matter why," Ash cut off furiously, balling his hands into fists. "I'm going to find her."

Delia pressed her lips together. She'd seen that coming, at least. Misty, meanwhile, was bewildered. "Ash, you can't just—!"

"Yes, I can! I'm going to! I have to—Misty, I _have_ to find her! I—" He broke off, turned on his heel, and sprinted out the door.

"Ash!" Misty yelled, running after him. Delia simply sat there, her mouth a hard line, her nails digging into her palms.

She tried to relax, to take deep breaths. She heard Ash and Misty yelling at each other outside, and then she heard Misty's voice break as she started to cry. And after a few moments, Delia stood and walked into the kitchen.

After some more yelling and crying, the voices outside quieted down. A few minutes passed, and Delia pulled out some milk and eggs and flour. The front door opened again. Slowly this time. As Delia began mixing the ingredients together, she heard the scraping of two chairs across the hardwood floor, and the thud of two children sitting at the dining room table. Seconds ticked by. Delia rolled out the dough.

"Misty, we have to do _something_ ," Ash muttered.

"We _will_ do something, Ash. But you can't just go running off on your own. That won't help anyone."

More silence. Delia slid the pan of cookies into the oven and walked into the dining room. Ash's shoulders were bunched up, and he was staring at the table darkly. Misty was hugging her knees to her chest. Delia sat at the chair next to Ash and took his hand in her own.

"It's going to be okay, honey," she said. "Everything's going to be okay. They'll find her, you'll see."

Ash's eyes were wet. Delia pressed her palm to his cheek and kissed his forehead, and he relaxed into her, leaning his head against her chest. After a few moments, Ash reached over and grabbed Misty's hand, tugging her gently into the embrace.

They all knew that maybe it wouldn't be okay. But just for a moment, they could pretend.

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Gary was washing out the scratches and bites on his hands when he heard it.

Snubbull wasn't just unusually anxious; she was downright crazy, Gary decided. He got the nagging sense that she was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out _what_ , especially when the only form of communication she attempted was biting him.

When he heard the sound, he didn't think much of it; he figured it was just his grandfather coming home from the Pokémart. "Hey, Gramps!" he called as he dried his hands and stepped into the hallway. "You get those potions?"

But he received no answer. His grandfather was nowhere in sight.

Gary's hand instinctively jumped to his belt, his fingerpads just brushing Blastoise's Pokéball. "Grandpa?"

There was a laugh. "I don't think I'm your grandpa, sweetheart." A honey-blonde woman stepped out from one of the nearby rooms, and Gary stepped back reflexively.

"Who are you?" he said, gripping the Pokéball more tightly.

"Hmm... should we tell him, Oakley?" the woman asked mockingly, placing a finger on her chin.

"I don't know, Annie," said another voice behind him. A hand trailed over his shoulder, and Gary whirled around to face a silver-haired woman with a smirk on her face. "It might scare him a little to find out we're Team Rocket agents."

"True, but he's going to be scared out of his mind regardless when we're through with him..." the blonde woman, Annie, pulled out what looked like a gun, and Gary's split second reflexes were all that saved him. There was a little _pop_ , and Gary just barely managed to avoid the dart that shot out of it.

"Blastoise, go! Hydro Pump!" he yelled, throwing his Pokéball into the air, but the two Rockets were one step ahead of him.

"Espeon, use Psybeam!"

"Ariados, String Shot!"

The String Shot wrapped around Gary's body, pinning his arms to his sides. Espeon's Psybeam hit Blastoise but didn't do much; Blastoise's Hydro Pump, meanwhile, knocked both women and their Pokémon off their feet, breaking off Ariados' string in the process. Gary tossed two more Pokéballs in the air as he struggled out of the binds, but before he could free himself, Espeon lifted him into the air with Psychic and flung him against the wall. Gary gasped with pain as he felt something crack.

"Shadow Ball, Umbreon! Electivire, use Protect!"

The Shadow Ball did a lot of damage on the Espeon, and Electivire's Protect served to hold off the Rockets' attacks, bringing the battle to a temporary standstill. "Okay, listen up," Gary said, struggling to stand and shaking off what was left of the String Shot. "I've only got you three on me, so if they've got full teams we don't stand a chance. As soon as this barrier falls, hit them with all you've got and then _run_."

Umbreon and Blastoise gave cries of affirmation and began to ready their attacks. Electivire, meanwhile, struggled to keep up the Protect barrier. Gary watched carefully and held up Electivire's Pokéball as Annie and Oakley called out their other Pokémon.

 _"Now!"_

Just as the barrier began to falter, Gary called Electivire back into its ball, and Umbreon and Blastoise used Shadow Ball and Hydro Cannon, respectively. "Go, go, go!" Gary yelled, already running. Umbreon was right behind him, and Blastoise was a little further back. Realizing that Blastoise couldn't outrun them, Gary recalled him as well. He made it into the living room and was almost out the front door when the Pin Missiles hit.

He let out a yell of pain as several struck his back and head. The windows in front of him shattered, and tiny holes peppered the walls. Gary stumbled and barely caught himself. He thought he heard the sound of someone calling his name, but he couldn't be sure.

He only slowed for a moment, but that moment was all Annie and Oakley needed. Gary felt the dart hit his leg and gasped, cursing himself. That was it.

His limbs felt like lead, and however hard he tried, Gary couldn't hold his eyes open. He heard that voice again—it definitely sounded like his name—and then, a moment later, he didn't hear anything at all.

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Iris and Cilan stared down at Goldenrod City. It was a _mess_.

Yellow tape blocked off the entire Pokémon Center, and police were trying to control the crowd. Mobs of trainers with hurt Pokémon were shouting and trying to get in. Petty criminals were taking advantage of the distraction and causing even more mayhem, and there didn't seem to be enough police around to manage the situation.

"We have to help," Iris said.

"Yew, Axew!"

"Help?" Cilan replied faintly.

"Yeah, help! They definitely need help," Iris said, and Axew fervently agreed. "We could—we could help with crowd control, or something. Just until more police get here. Dragonite, take us down there!"

"Iris, I don't think this is such a— _who-oa_!" Cilan nearly tumbled backwards as Dragonite plummeted.

The crowd screamed and backed away as the Dragon Pokémon came to a landing in front of the Pokémon Center. "HEY, EVERYONE!" Iris yelled, and the volume of her voice made Cilan flinch. Then Dragonite _roared_ , and Cilan's ears died. A hush came over the crowd, just for a moment, and Iris took advantage of it.

"Listen up, people! I know your Pokémon are hurt, but the police _can't_ let you in right now, so you'll just have to deal with it! I'm no professional, but if anyone needs their Pokémon healed ASAP, I can help you out, okay? If anyone has berries or potions or whatever and is willing to share, that would be great too!"

Iris hopped off Dragonite and stood waiting as people muttered to each other. Then one little girl stepped forward, two Pokéballs in her hands. "Um... can you help my Caterpie and Rattata?" she whispered. "They're hurt real bad. They got burned."

Iris' face softened. She knelt down and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, and her voice took on a tone so gentle it surprised Cilan. '"Of course I can," she said.

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Misty couldn't recall a time she had felt this lost.

It didn't seem like there was anything they could do. Just a few minutes before, Ash had been ready to throw himself into the situation with no plan and no idea what was really going on, but now that he'd calmed down somewhat, even he appeared to realize that there was virtually nothing he could do to help.

"I have to _do_ something," he muttered, pacing the dining room floor. One hand rested on his Pokéball belt, and his eyes darted constantly from right to left, as though he was waiting for an attack. Pikachu seemed just as anxious, and his little yellow ears hung low.

"There's nothing we can do," Misty said. "We just have to leave it up to the police. They'll—they'll find her. Right, Mrs. Ketchum?" Misty turned quickly to Ash's mother, just as desperate for reassurance as Ash was.

Delia nodded resolutely. "Of course they will."

But Ash was done. "I don't _want_ to leave it up to them!" he shouted, and everyone—even Pikachu—flinched. "I can't just—just _sit_ here and—how long has she—?"

"Not even a day, Ash," Misty said, standing up. "It hasn't been that long, okay? May hasn't even been missing for 24 hours. They _will_ find her. You can't just rush into this. You'll only get yourself hurt!"

"I don't _care_ if I get hurt," Ash snarled. Pikachu tugged on Ash's jacket with a concerned "Pikapi," but Ash ignored him.

"Well, I do!" Misty snapped, slamming her hands on the table. "And so do a lot of other people! You never listen to anyone but yourself, do you? Quit being so selfish and think, Ash!"

Ash opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. The timer went off in the kitchen, and Delia stood and walked into the kitchen. About a minute later, she returned with a plate of soft, steaming M'n'M cookies.

"You both need to calm down," she said firmly as she set the plate on the table. "Ash, Misty is right about not rushing into things. Misty, that last comment was uncalled for and untrue. You're fifteen years old, and both of you need to handle this more maturely."

Misty's cheeks burned. She knew Mrs. Ketchum was right, but she was still mad at Ash; and from the looks of it, he felt the same way. They stood and stared at each other with seething gazes, and they might have stood that way for a long time if the phone didn't ring.

Ash jumped. Pikachu's ears pricked up, and the Mouse Pokémon leaped down from Ash's shoulder and darted over to the video phone. Delia sighed, ran her hands through her hair, and walked over to answer it.

The image on the screen was blurry at first, but it quickly cleared up, and both Ash and Misty came running when they saw the caller's face.

"Brock!" Ash said with a smile that seemed a little forced.

 _"Hey, Ash,_ " Brock replied.

"Hi, Brock," Misty said. "What's up?" It was then that she noticed his solemn expression, and her smile vanished entirely. "Oh. Did you hear about—about May?"

The aspiring doctor nodded and looked away. " _I just wanted to call and check up on you guys. See how you're doing."_

"You mean make sure Ash didn't run off and get himself killed already?" Misty muttered. Brock laughed, and Ash shot her a glare.

 _"That too, I guess,"_ Brock said. He rested his head in his hands and sighed. _"I can't believe it. She won the last Sinnoh Grand Festival, you know. Finally beat Drew and became a Top Coordinator."_

"Wait, what?" Ash jumped up, and Misty scowled. "When did that happen?"

"Maybe while you were in Kalos forgetting we existed," Misty said offhandedly. Ash blinked, and the expression in his eyes reflected surprise and hurt. "You should've seen the battle—it was incredible! She and her Blaziken were finally able to use Mega Evolution."

Ash stared at Misty, not sure what to say. At this, Brock narrowed his eyes, clearly noticing the odd dynamic between the two, but he said nothing. Ash swallowed.

"That's... really awesome for her," he said.

" _Yeah_ ," Brock agreed. " _I acquired a Key Stone as well, recently. After that big archaeological dig in Sinnoh, there's been a bigger supply in all the stores. I haven't been able to find a Steelixite, though."_

"That's cool," Ash mumbled, his eyes fixated on a point somewhere in the distance. Misty realized that what she'd said had probably really upset him, but she didn't have it in her to feel remorse. What she said was true. He _had_ practically abandoned her, as well as most of his other friends.

He'd hurt her first.

 _"Brock! Brock, Tilly won't share!"_

Little pudgy fingers grabbed at Brock's hands and a little face appeared on the screen as one of the gym leader's younger siblings came running in. Brock paused for a split second, eyes closed, as though steeling himself.

 _"Okay, Suzie. Calm down. One second, okay? I'm talking to my friends,"_ the dark-haired gym leader said. _"Go tell Tilly that Brock says she has to share."_

Suzie ran offscreen, and Brock turned back to Misty and Ash. _"Sorry about that," he said. "My parents are—"_ He suddenly stopped for a second. _"Ah, they're on vacation. Just for a few weeks. I'm just holding down the fort for now."_ He paused. _"See you guys."_

Misty knew as soon as he spoke that his words weren't true, but she kept it quiet. "Okay. Bye, Brock," she said, and then the screen went black.

Ash turned and walked out of the room.

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When he first heard the faint noises coming from the lab, Professor Oak was a little concerned—it sounded vaguely like some kind of fight was going on—but he dismissed it. Then he heard Gary's pained yell and the shattering glass, and the potions in his hand clattered to the ground. "Gary!"

He didn't know he could still run that fast in his old age, but, gasping for breath, he tore up the road and burst into the lab just in time to see his grandson crash to the ground with a _thud_. Two women stood casually in the living room, Pokéballs in hand.

"Well, well, well," the blonde one said with a smile as she tucked something small and round into her pocket. It glinted blue in the sunlight before it disappeared into the folds of her clothing. "Did his grandpa come to help him after all?"

"Listen up, old man," the silver-haired woman said. "We're going to take this kid with us, and you're not going to move. In fact, you're not even going to say a word—that is, unless you want to get really, really hurt." She stepped forward, but Professor Oak did so as well, standing protectively in front of Gary. Her eyes narrowed. "Oh, so that's how you want to do it?"

Several seconds of heavy silence passed, and then, simultaneously, all three moved.

It happened too fast for human eyes to follow. Professor Oak hurled three Pokéballs into the air. He spoke no words, but in the next instant a Pidgeot was soaring out the shattered window, an Arcanine was gently lifting Gary onto its back, and a Gyarados was tangling with Annie and Oakley's respective Pokémon. Professor Oak's eyes were steely cold.

Gyarados flung Annie's Espeon to the side and smashed into Oakley's Ariados with a fierce Dragon Tail. Annie cast Oakley a nervous glance.

"Please do be aware that you are dealing with a former Pokémon League Champion," Professor Oak said dangerously. "And I will not hold back against anyone who touches my grandson."

Annie stepped back a little. "Oakley, I don't think—"

"It's two against one," Oakley said, sneering. "We can beat him, Annie. Raticate, Hyper Fang! Ariados, Night Shade! Beedrill, Venoshock! Let's go!"

Gyarados batted away the Hyper Fang and Night Shade with another Dragon Tail, but the Venoshock whizzed past him and grazed Professor Oak's arm. The professor hissed with pain as the acid ate through his lab coat and left a shiny red burn on his skin.

Professor Oak tossed another Pokéball into the air, and his Exeggutor lunged forward with a ferocious Wood Hammer. Annie's Espeon came up from behind with a Shadow Ball. "Jump, Exeggutor!" Professor Oak yelled, and the Coconut Pokémon did, evading the Shadow Ball with ease.

Annie called out two more Pokémon as well. "Clefable, Moonblast! Gothorita, Telekinesis!"

Arcanine began barking, and Professor Oak whirled around to see Gary being slowly lifted up by Gothorita's Telekinesis. "No!" he shouted, grabbing him and pulling him close. As he fought the Telekinesis, however, his Pokémon were left to battle without his guidance, and they were clearly outnumbered. Gary's Umbreon, who had been waiting anxiously by her trainer's side thus far, leaped in to join the fight.

The professor was just realizing he might not actually be able to save Gary when he heard the sirens. His Pidgeot had gone for the police. All he had to do was fight them off for a bit longer...

Then Professor Oak felt something tiny and sharp sink into his back. The sirens got louder, and he stumbled forward, his grip on Gary weakening as an intense exhaustion came over him.

There were thundering footsteps and more sirens, and Annie and Oakley's frantic voices, and Officer Jenny's shout of "Come out slowly, with your hands where I can see them!" and then everything went black and silent.

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	4. Bridging the Gaps

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 **Chapter Four**

 **Bridging the Gaps**

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 _Run_.

Trees on all sides. A leafy covering overhead. Underbrush crunching under her feet. Twigs and branches scratching her skin and leaving her covered in stinging cuts.

 _Don't stop. Don't think. Just run._

Gasping for breath, she stumbled onto the open road. Her lungs ached. Her legs burned. She clicked her heels together two times in quick succession, and wheels popped out of the soles of her shoes. She cast a panicked glance behind her, chest heaving.

Her body felt like lead. She couldn't move. There was no way she could keep going.

But, gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes tight, she skated forward. She loved rollerblading, but it was a little less fun when she was running for her life.

One foot forward, then the other, faster, faster, _faster_. The world streaked by. The burning in her legs intensified. She gasped in cold air. Fierce wind whipped at her long, pale blond hair. Faster, _faster_ , **_faster_**.

They were going to catch her. She wasn't going to make it. She pumped her legs harder.

 _No_ , she told herself. _I_ am _going to make it._

Her legs felt like rubber, and the burning was replaced by a dull numbness. The road came to a halt, melting into the trees around her, and she skidded to a stop and clicked her heels again. The wheels retracted. She darted under the cover of the trees and tore through the forest.

The girl didn't know how long she'd been running. She'd long since stopped keeping track of the days. Only once had she allowed herself to sleep, and because of that, they had almost found her again. Since then she had just kept running—though she knew, eventually, she wouldn't be able to run any longer.

She remembered the cackling laughter and the bloodred " _R_ " and the woman with the curly dark-blond hair. She remembered waking up in the middle of the night and finding herself fighting for her life moments later. She remembered how her Key Stone was ripped from the back of her hand, and how her Lucario finally couldn't fight anymore against three other Pokémon at once, and how she kicked and fought grabbed her fanny pack from her bedpost and _ran_.

She suddenly stopped dead. There was a sound—a sound she recognized. _A creek_ , she realized, and her eyes widened. _Water!_

It didn't take her long to find it. She dropped to her knees beside the stream and thrust her hands in, lifting water to her face. She wasted no time drinking as much as she possibly could. Her hands fumbled for the dirty plastic water bottle she was keeping in her fanny pack, and she plunged that under the water as well. After a second or two, she pulled it back out, clumsily twisted the cap on, shoved it back into her pack, and froze.

For just a moment, Korrina stared at her reflection in the water. Dirt smudged on her face, muddy and tangled hair, bags under her eyes.

She barely recognized herself.

She only paused for a few seconds, but then she staggered to her feet, cursing herself, and forced herself to keep running. Even those few seconds could be just a few too many.

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Verdanturf was definitely one of Serena's favorite towns in Hoenn. The whole area was gorgeous, teeming with life and beauty. Even the air was better here, fresher, sweeter somehow. Serena had already decided she'd stay and train here for awhile, and this would be the site of her first contest.

The honey-haired girl had never felt better as she walked into the Pokémon Center with an added spring to her step. She faltered, however, when she noticed the huge TV mounted on the wall, turned to the news channel. Apparently another trainer had been attacked. Serena quickly looked away, but not before she'd seen the pictures of the missing trainers—one of whom she recognized.

And she had almost managed to forget about it for a few moments, she thought bitterly.

Korrina's face had plagued Serena's thoughts for the past weeks, ever since she'd heard about the gym leader's disappearance. She couldn't really do anything but hope and pray that Korrina would be okay, but she had still been restless and anxious, nagged by the thought that she should _do_ something.

Serena's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of another girl's strangled gasp. She looked up to see a blue-haired girl standing nearby, her knuckles pressed to her mouth, her stare focused on the TV.

"No," she whispered. "No... not him too..." Then she sank to the ground, and her shoulders shook as she began to sob.

Serena froze in place for a second, and then a little voice in her head hissed, _This is your chance! Do something!_ And so Serena did. She stepped forward, dropped to her knees, and put her arm around the girl's shoulders.

"They're... they're all gone," the blue-haired girl choked out. "Zoey's gone, and May... a-and now Gary too?"

"Shh," Serena whispered. "It's all going to be okay. The police are going to find them. Everything's gonna be fine."

"I just... I can't believe they..." the girl broke off, dissolving into tears again. Serena pressed her lips together. They stayed like that for several moments, and the bluenette cried, and Serena held her.

Feelings came back. Moments. Memories.

"I know," she finally said gently. "I... I knew one of those trainers too. Korrina. We were friends. I can't..." Serena took a shaky breath. "I can't believe she's gone, either. But we just have to trust that the police will find them, right?"

A few heartbeats passed. Slowly, the blue-haired girl nodded. "Y-yeah..."

Serena hugged her, and they stayed that way for a moment, before Serena finally stood. "C'mon, stand up." Serena helped the girl to her feet. "Why don't we go outside? It's so beautiful out."

The girl nodded again, less reluctantly this time, and began wiping the tears from her face. "Yeah... Yeah, okay."

Side by side, they walked out the door, and the blue-haired girl took in a deep breath and let it out. She smiled slightly.

"Verdanturf Town's really gorgeous, isn't it?" Serena asked, trying to sound cheerful. She stepped off the dirt path and flung herself onto the glossy green grass, taking in the sunshine and fresh air. The other girl sat down beside her.

"Yeah," she agreed. "It's one of my favorite places in Hoenn."

"Me too," Serena said. "So what's your name? I'm Serena."

"I'm Dawn. I'm here for a contest," the girl said.

"Wait, really? Me too! I'm trying out contests for the first time. I'm a performer from Kalos..." Serena paused for a second. "Wait. Your name's Dawn? And you're a coordinator? You said you knew—wait, wait, in the last Sinnoh Grand Festival—"

"Oh, yeah." Dawn grinned. "That was me. I got second place. In the finals, I battled..." But the words stuck in her throat, and she faltered. Clenching her fists, she swallowed and forced herself to speak. "I-I battled May..." The bluenette smiled slightly. "It was her first time becoming a Top Coordinator. It was an amazing battle... I don't know if I've ever been in such a tough fight."

"Wow," Serena said, eyes widening. "That sounds really cool. I, um—" She blushed. "I know about you because I read Coordinator's Weekly. You know. The magazine..."

At that, Dawn sat bolt upright. "Oh no." She pressed a hand to her forehead. "No, no, no—okay, first things first: Ash is not my boyfriend, Paul is not my boyfriend, Kenny is not my boyfriend, Zoey is not my girlfriend, Barry is not my boyfriend, Ursula is not—"

"Whoa!" Serena laughed and held up her hands. "I know, I know! I don't even pay attention to the gossipy stuff about who's dating whom." Okay, that was a _lie_. To be honest, Serena had been _convinced_ Dawn and Kenny were together when that last issue had come out, but Dawn did not need to know that. "I really just read it to keep up with the contests themselves."

Dawn sighed, relieved. "Okay, that's good. Really, though, you shouldn't believe half of the stuff they put out." She put a finger to her chin. "Well, except when it's about Harley—they're usually right about him."

Serena hesitated. "You mean he's actually that drunk, that often?"

Dawn shrugged. "He doesn't even have to be drunk to do the crazy things he does, honestly."

The two girls shared a laugh, and suddenly, the tension seemed to evaporate. Serena couldn't remember a time she'd felt this lighthearted in the past week.

"So you said this is going to be your first contest?" Dawn said.

"Yeah," Serena replied, her stomach fluttering. "I'm kind of nervous, but I think I'll do alright. The appeal round is supposed to be a lot like a showcase, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I've heard of those. It's pretty similar, except in contests your goal is to be less flashy. It's more about the natural beauty of the Pokémon, you know? In Super Contests, though—they have those in Sinnoh, my home region— _that's_ more like a showcase."

"It sounds fun." Serena paused. "Maybe I could go there next season..."

Dawn smiled. "Yeah, I bet you'd love it. Maybe I could go with you!" Serena nodded eagerly at that, and the blue-haired coordinator continued, "So what do you have planned for your appeal tomorrow?"

"T-Tomorrow?" Serena stammered.

"Yeah, the contest tomorrow," Dawn prompted, and Serena held up her hands.

"Oh, no," she said, laughing nervously. "I'm not competing tomorrow. My first contest is going to be the one they're holding in two weeks—so I can have more time to train."

Dawn pursed her lips. "Oh. Darn. I was looking forward to competing against you..." Her eyes lit up suddenly. "You know, it's not too late to sign up."

"Wait, what?" Serena said.

"Yeah! Why not compete tomorrow, too? Just as a practice contest, to see how you do. You could still do the one in two weeks. It's not like you have anything to lose!" Dawn seemed really excited. "Oh, this could be so much fun! Especially since—"

And then, just like before, Dawn stopped.

All of a sudden, her expression lost all its excitement. Serena's breath caught in her throat.

"Since I can't..." Dawn swallowed. "I can't compete against Zoey..." She bit her lip, and Serena could see she was fighting back tears. There was a heavy pause.

Serena reached over and took Dawn's hand.

"You know," Dawn said, "Zoey and I were going to do this contest together. It would be our first for the season. Neither of us had ever done contests outside of Sinnoh..."

They stayed that way for a few moments, Serena holding Dawn's hand as the blue-haired girl tried to keep it together. Then Serena spoke.

"You will do this contest together."

Dawn looked up, bewildered.

"You will," Serena insisted. "Maybe not the one tomorrow, or the one in two weeks. But you and Zoey—you'll get a chance to see each other again, to battle again. You _will_ compete together, here in Verdanturf."

Dawn stared at Serena, tears glazing over her eyes, and Serena wondered briefly if she'd said something totally wrong. But then, slowly, Dawn nodded.

"Yeah," she said, and though her voice was still a little unsteady, Serena could hear her determination.

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Sunlight and fresh air streamed in through the open window. Gary's first thought was that it felt like a nice day. His second was _holy crap everything hurts_.

The young researcher groaned and tried to move. His body was in pain all over. It hurt even to breathe.

"Gary!"

Gary slowly blinked his eyes open to see a bleach-white room that smelled of anesthetic. Where was he? Who was— "Grandpa?"

"Oh, Gary, thank goodness." Professor Oak's face hovered over Gary. "How are you feeling?"

"Um... bad." That was an understatement. He felt like his body had been used as a battering ram. Gradually, everything started to come into better focus. He was in a hospital, he realized, taking in the harsh whiteness of his surroundings. And then he remembered.

The two Rocket agents, Annie and Oakley. The way Espeon's Psychic had flung him against the wall. The Bullet Seeds, the shattering glass...

"What happened?" Gary said abruptly. "Those people—they attacked me—where are they? Where are my Pokémon? How did you—" He tried to sit up, but suddenly let out a choked gasp and fell back onto the pillow. "Oh. That—that's painful. Ow."

"Just try to stay still. You're still recovering. Your ribcage is very badly bruised, and while you're on a lot of pain meds, you still shouldn't be moving around too much. You've also sustained a lot of superficial injuries all over your body..."

"Gramps, what happened?" Gary insisted. "How long was I out?"

Professor Oak sighed and sat back down, apparently satisfied that Gary was awake and mostly okay. "Not for very long. Just a day." He frowned. "You were attacked by two women, correct? One with blonde hair, the other with silver?"

Gary's brow furrowed as he struggled to pull the details from his memory. "Yeah. Their names were Annie and Oakley, I think... But I thought they had me—no, they _did_ have me. Did—did you save me?"

Professor Oak turned to gaze out the open window. "I was on my way back to the lab when I heard the fighting. I ran up there and tried to fight them off... my Pidgeot went to find Officer Jenny, so they hit me too, with their little dart gun, but the police arrived in time to save us both."

Gary closed his eyes. He'd been so close—so close to being captured by Team Rocket. If his grandfather hadn't shown up in time, who knew what hell he'd be going through right now?

"Your Pokémon are fine. They're back at the lab right now. I brought them all to see you earlier."

Gary sighed with relief, then winced. Ow. Deep breathing—that hurt.

"What was in that dart?" he asked. "The stuff that knocked me out?"

"Well, they're still studying the exact contents, but apparently it's a very high concentration of Butterfree Sleep Powder." Professor Oak paused. "There are a lot of people waiting to talk to you, you know. Police. Detectives. Oh, and several TV reporters."

Gary groaned. He should have known. "I don't really feel like talking to them..."

"Well, you should at least talk to some of the detectives. There are other missing trainers, Gary. Yours was the fourth attack so far—and as of right now, they have almost no leads, no way of finding those girls. You're the best clue we have."

"Well, they know it's Team Rocket, don't they?" Gary mumbled. "That's a lead—" He suddenly broke off, and Professor Oak's eyes widened. "Wait. They _don't_ know it's Team Rocket," Gary whispered. "That's right—Annie and Oakley, they're Rocket agents, Gramps!"

Professor Oak sank back into his chair. "Rockets?" he muttered. "No, no, no... I don't need this. I don't need an enormous crime organization targeting my grandson." He dropped his head into his hands. "First those other girls, and then May, and now..."

Hold on. That name definitely rang a bell. "You said May?" Gary frowned. "You mean Ash's friend May?"

Professor Oak nodded. "I suppose you wouldn't have heard yet. She was the third trainer captured. She went missing the night before you were attacked."

Gary knitted his brows together. As far as he knew, Ash and May were really close friends, and if Gary knew Ash, one thing was for sure: he wasn't one to sit around when his friends were in trouble. The young researcher wouldn't be surprised if his friend had already run off to find May or die trying. "Where's Ash?"

"He was here earlier with his mother and Misty. I think he said he'll come back a little later. He seemed very upset, to say the least. After losing May, and then seeing you here like this..."

It was only then that Gary noticed the bandages on his grandfather's right arm. His eyes narrowed. "Grandpa, what happened?"

The professor touched his arm absently. "Ah, this. I was burned. One of their Pokémon... I managed to get mostly out of the way, but I was still injured."

Gary's jaw tightened. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now. He really didn't. As a kid, he'd soaked up the attention, couldn't get enough of it. But it had been a few years, and frankly, he was in a little too much physical pain to want to talk to anybody right now.

But May was missing. Ash was probably going insane, and Team Rocket had hurt his grandfather—in an attempt to do worse. He didn't really feel like he had a choice.

"I'll talk to them."

Professor Oak looked up, clearly surprised. "You will?"

"Yeah. The detectives, the police, whoever." Gary shrugged and looked away. "Because you're right. I should."

Professor Oak reached over and took Gary's hand. He smiled, but the expression didn't reach his eyes, and Gary realized in that moment what a toll this whole ordeal must be taking on him. How worried he must be.

It wasn't until that instant that it sunk in for Gary. What all this meant. How much danger he was in.

And suddenly, he started to feel scared.

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She'd heard the news before she arrived. How could she not? It was everywhere, it seemed, on every radio station. Solidad heard the words "missing coordinator," and since she'd already received the call from Drew, she knew. She knew right away.

May. Gone. Kidnapped, maybe dead.

Solidad couldn't imagine how much that was crushing Drew. Because she knew exactly how much their relationship had developed, how much May meant to Drew and vice versa. She knew that, once the shock wore off, he'd stop at nothing to find her.

Solidad had arrived in Goldenrod, elbowed her way through the crowds and the police, found him, and pulled him into a hug.

Solidad didn't know how many hours had passed since then. She and Drew had found a room in the western Pokémon Center—being such a huge area, Goldenrod had two, one for each side of the city—but even though she told him he should get some rest, and he was clearly exhausted, neither were able to fall asleep. So they'd stayed awake, talking about lots of things—but mostly, their conversations revolved around May.

Eventually, around four A.M., they had both nodded off. Solidad was glad for that. She needed the rest. She knew he needed it more.

It was morning now, about six o'clock. Solidad gazed out the window at the soft gray-white sky. Two hours of shut-eye wasn't nearly enough, but she was awake now and she didn't think she'd have much luck falling back to sleep. So she sat and thought.

Drew had said a lot of things last night. Vulnerable things. Things that Solidad knew—as soon as Drew spoke them—he had never told anyone before.

 _"May was the only one I ever—Solidad, she was special. That kind of rival—she was the only one."_

She wondered how much of it he'd regret saying when he woke up.

 _"Would I know it if she was dead? Would I—feel it, or something?"_

Solidad reached out to the TV remote, but then she faltered. She didn't think there would be any more news—not yet. And if there was, she was afraid of what exactly it might be. She was restless, desperate for more news, yet still anxiously hoping there wouldn't be any. She wondered what would happen when they found May. If they found her.

If she was even still alive.

 _"Arceus, Solidad, what's happening to her right now?"_

Drew had feelings for May; that much was apparent. Distinctive feelings. Painful feelings. Complicated feelings. Solidad had been able to see that for the past couple years; it was pretty obvious to her, though someone who was a little less familiar with Drew—or who, like May, was utterly dense—would probably have considerably more trouble figuring that out.

 _"Tell me what it feels like to fall in love. Because I think I—I don't know."_

At one point last night, Drew had started to cry. She hugged him, and he let her. She'd been shocked by how out-of-character he was, by how much May's disappearance had shaken him. It hurt to see him like that.

Solidad sighed. She turned to look at his sleeping form in the second bed. Right now, he wasn't worrying about anything. Drew had told her once that he never had nightmares—or dreamt at all.

Solidad swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. Now that she was up, she might as well go for her usual morning walk. Her Butterfree and Pidgeot were especially fond of their early-morning ritual, and the pink-haired woman hoped she'd feel a little better once she got moving.

She was careful to remake her bed properly, and she packed up everything in her small overnight backpack. If there was one thing that traveling on a Pokémon journey had taught her, it was how to travel light. Just as she was about to leave, Solidad cast a second glance at Drew.

The Top Coordinator paused for a second.

"You're awake, aren't you?"

The pink-haired woman received no response. She walked over and sat on the edge of his bed. "Drew, please. I know you're not asleep."

With a sigh, he sat up, slowly running a hand through his hair. He cast her an irritated glance.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked.

Drew swung his legs over the side of the bed and looked away. "I couldn't fall asleep in the first place."

"Drew, you need to sleep."

"I don't care, Solidad." He stood up and pulled on his jacket. Solidad opened her mouth to tell him to stop, but he'd already grabbed the TV remote and hit the power button. His eyes narrowed as the television switched on, and the pink-haired woman waited with bated breath.

 _"—word of a fourth attack in Pallet Town. The target appears to have been Pokémon researcher Gary Oak, grandson of the famous Professor Oak—"_

"So it actually is happening," Drew muttered. "It's really not just a bunch of coincidences." To Solidad's surprise, a smirk worked its way across Drew's face. "Perfect—that's perfect. That means there's got to be some kind of pattern. And once I figure that out, I'll be able to find whoever's behind this."

Solidad bit her lip. "Drew, I don't know if—"

"Wait, wait—" Drew's eyes were once again locked on the TV screen. "Solidad, look," he hissed. Solidad's brow furrowed.

 _"Gary is in the Viridian City hospital now, still recovering from the injuries he sustained at the time of the attack. Professor Oak's laboratory was—"_

At this, Drew grabbed the remote and tossed it to Solidad. Surprised, she fumbled to catch it, and by the time she looked up again, Drew was already grabbing his things and packing up again.

"Viridian City," he said in a tone that brooked no argument. "That's where I'm going. This guy, Gary Oak—he got away. Whoever tried to catch him, didn't. He's bound to have some kind of info. And once I talk to him, I'm going to find May."

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"Fal..."

Head pounding. Body bruised and pattered. Groaning in pain. She could remember—flashes, shouting—

"Falk...ner...?"

Her lips formed his name without knowing the reason. She needed to find him. Why did she need to find him?

Clair tried to move, but her legs were pinned by something huge and heavy. She opened her bleary eyes and blinked rapidly as her vision slowly came into focus. The gym—it was in ruins. The back half of her body was trapped beneath a hulking pile of debris. Bits of concrete and rocks were strewn everywhere. The beautiful mahogany columns that had furnished the inside—smashed.

 _Falkner_.

There was blood on the ground. Was it hers? Or was it—

And all of a sudden Clair remembered.

It hit her like a ton of rocks. "Falkner!" she screamed, straining against the massive chunks of rubble that held her down. _"Falkner!"_

Though he'd come over yesterday with the intention to stay only for lunch, they'd quickly lost count of the hours, and eventually it was so late Clair offered that he stay the night rather than fly all that way in the dark. The next morning, they'd entered the gym with the intention of having a friendly match, but then...

It had been so sudden.

The attacks had come from nowhere. Clair reached for her Pokéballs, and Falkner for his, but the onslaught hit them before they could do a thing. Clair had found herself oaralyzed, hit by a Stun Spore, and all she could do was watch as they tackled him to the ground. He fought and kicked and spat, but they did something to him, and in an instant he went limp, and they dragged him away, and then—

And then nothing.

Clair slammed the ground with her fists. Why hadn't she been able to save him? Why had she been so _powerless_?

"Falkner!" Clair screamed again, and her shoulders shook as she began to cry. She knew he was gone. The blue-haired woman recalled the news they'd seen last night, about the trainers who had been kidnapped—the two coordinator girls, and the gym leader, and the kid from Pallet Town. Had Falkner been their next target?

As she heard sirens and voices from outside, the gym leader let herself collapse, still crying. It was no use calling for him anymore, no use searching. He wasn't here.

They'd taken him, and Arceus knew where he was now.

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"One down. Just a few to go."

"A few? Oakley, we've got, like, ten more on our list, you know."

"Eight, actually." Oakley popped her gum. "Only four after tonight."

"Right, that's if you don't blow it again," Annie muttered.

"Me? For your information, _I_ wasn't the one who—"

"Shh!" Annie clapped her hand over her sister's mouth. "Shut up for a second," she hissed.

Oakley glared at her reproachfully, but kept quiet as a group of people passed by their hiding spot. The two were staking out the Viridian City Hospital, lying in wait until that night. Once the people's footfalls had gone out of earshot, Oakley shoved Annie's hand away.

"We're _not_ going to mess up this time," she snapped under her breath.

"Of course we won't," Annie said. "We got cocky yesterday. That won't happen again, right?" She narrowed her gaze, and Oakley looked away. They both knew it was Oakley who always got cocky.

"Right," Oakley muttered.

Silence fell. Oakley pulled out a blueprint of the hospital's second floor. The Oaks' room was marked with a star in black sharpie. The route they'd use to escape was drawn out in red. "We'll wait until they're both asleep," the silver haired-girl mumbled. "And then..."

"We hit 'em with the darts," Annie finished. She held up her bag. "I have them right here. These ones are full of Stun Spore."

"Wouldn't it be easier to use the Sleep Powder ones?"

"Yeah, but we're out of those. We used most of them yesterday. I'll grab some more tonight when I stop at the base."

Oakley grunted in acknowledgement, and the two were quiet for several more minutes. Tonight, Annie knew, was when things would really pick up. If they could pull all of this off in one night, they'd be way ahead of Domino—and they'd leave all of the regions in a frenzied panic.

Just the way Giovanni wanted.

Annie glanced over at her sister. Oakley seemed even more tense than she usually was. The blonde reached out to touch her sister's shoulder, then hesitated and pulled her hand back. "Hey," she said. "You sure you'll be okay in Kalos by yourself? I can go with you." It was rare that either went solo, and they both felt more comfortable working together, but the only way they'd get this done tonight was if they split up. After they got the Oaks, Annie would bring them back to the base while Oakley went for their next target.

Oakley sighed. "I'll be fine, Annie."

The blonde smiled slightly. "Just checking. It's my job to worry, you know."

"Uh-huh. We need to focus on the mission." Oakley pulled out her compact and checked her makeup, then tossed it to Annie. It was a pre-mission ritual of theirs.

"Gotta look good to do good, right?" Annie said with a wink. "Hm. I need to touch up my eye shadow—"

Suddenly, Oakley tensed. She grabbed Annie's arm, and the blonde stiffened.

"It's him," Oakley said. "It's that boy—Annie, _look_."

The agent snapped the mirror shut and looked up. It took only a split second for her to identify the person her sister was speaking of, and as soon as she did, she froze. It was the boy they'd met in Alto Mare.

She couldn't even remember his name, but his face was unforgettable. "Why is _he_ here?" she said, gritting her teeth.

"I think—I think it's because he's friends with the Oak kid. The one we're getting tonight." Oakley rested her chin on her hand, a pensive look on her face. "He's on Domino's list, isn't he? Anyway, let's just hope he's out of here soon..."

"I'm sure he will be," Annie said uneasily. The two exchanged glances. They both recalled what had happened in Alto Mare years ago. And they both knew that the raven-haired trainer who'd befriended Latias was no ordinary boy.

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"Ash?"

No answer. Misty leaned her forehead against the door.

"Ash, come on. The professor called and said Gary's awake. You do want to go talk to him, don't you?"

Again, only silence. Frustrated, Misty began to lose her temper. "Ash, quit being such a baby about all this and just open the door!"

Finally, she got a response, though not the one she'd been hoping for. "Leave me _alone_."

Misty huffed and crossed her arms. Ash hadn't come out of his room since their fight yesterday. Well, that wasn't entirely true—he'd slunk into the kitchen that morning for breakfast a few hours earlier—but this is Ash we're talking about; the end of the world itself couldn't cause him to miss a meal.

"Alright. Fine. You want me to leave you alone, I will." Misty glared at the door and imagined her eyes burning a hole right through it. "But Gary's awake and the only way you're going to have a chance at finding May is if you talk to him. Have fun sulking." With that, Misty spun on her heel and stalked away. Her fists clenched when she heard the door open maybe fifteen seconds later.

 _So he'll come out for her, but not for me,_ she thought bitterly. Even as the words crossed her mind, she knew it wasn't fair to think like that when May was in so much danger, but she didn't care. Ash was finally back after all this time, and he was shutting her out. Well, sure, Misty hadn't exactly been the nicest to him yesterday—but what she'd said hadn't even been that mean; it was just true! She missed traveling with him so much it _hurt_ sometimes, but did he ever call? Did he ever acknowledge all that they'd gone through and done together? Did he even _care_?

Misty didn't even realize she was crying until she saw the tears hit the hardwood floor. Quickly, she slipped into the bathroom, shut the door, and pressed her back against it.

 _Quit crying, Misty,_ she told herself furiously. _It's a dumb thing to cry about. Just because he never calls doesn't mean he doesn't care. He's just... being Ash._

She knew it was true, but she still slumped to the ground, her shoulders shaking, more hot tears welling up in her eyes. She sat there crying for what felt like a long time and would have sat there even longer, but she heard a knock on the door.

"Misty, honey?" It was Delia. "Don't you want to go with Ash to see Gary?"

 _Yes_. "No."

A sigh. "Misty, come on. What are you two fighting over, anyway?"

 _Hmm, I don't know. Maybe the fact that he left for so many years, never bothered to keep in touch, and is now trying to act like nothing's changed?_ "It's nothing, Mrs. Ketchum."

"It most certainly is _not_ nothing. Open this door."

Misty grudgingly stood and swung open the door, her own red-rimmed eyes meeting Delia's. The brown-haired woman's gaze softened, and she took Misty's hand in her own.

"Misty, I don't know what's going on, and if you don't want to tell me, then fine. But you care about Ash. I know that. And I also know that he cares about you just as much, if not more. Why do you think he's so upset over what you said to him yesterday?"

Misty didn't have an answer to that. She looked away, biting her lip.

"You two have a very special friendship," Delia said. "Whatever this fight is about, I don't really think it's worth ruining that. Do you?"

After a moment, the redhead shook her head. Her cheeks were hot. She hadn't felt like this much of a child in a long time.

Delia smiled. "I didn't think so." She took a deep breath, then added, "He's in a lot of pain right now, you know." She nodded towards the front door, and Misty heard the words she didn't say.

 _He needs you._

The gym leader turned toward the door, which Ash had left open only minutes before. He was probably already flying on his way to the Viridian City Hospital. Without a Pokémon to ride, it'd take her awhile to catch up to him.

"Would you like me to drive you there?" Delia offered.

A relieved smile crossed Misty's face. The redheaded girl nodded as Delia's hand touched her shoulder.

"It'll be alright, Misty. Ash couldn't hold a grudge even if he wanted to," Ash's mother said, and Misty laughed. She was right. Everything would be fine.

Just thirty short minutes later, Delia's car was pulling into the hospital parking lot. Misty threw open the door and hopped out just as the vehicle came to a stop. The two walked into the building together, both anxious and unwilling to admit it. Had Ash already done something stupid without someone to check his impulses? Would he really be so willing to forgive Misty? How bad was Gary's condition? And now that he was awake, what would the young researcher have to say about the attack?

Those questions danced through Misty's mind as they headed up the stairs to the second floor and found the right room. She touched the handle of the door, hesitated, then turned it and pushed it open.

"Ash...?"

The raven-haired boy was seated by Gary's bedside. Professor Oak sat near the window. At her voice, Ash glanced up, his brow furrowing.

"Why're you here?" he muttered, holding her gaze.

"Is that Misty?" Gary asked, starting to sit up and wincing before falling back onto his pillow. "Ah. Ow."

"Hello, Delia, Misty." The professor nodded in greeting.

"I'm here to talk to Gary," Misty said to Ash, crossing her arms, "just like you are." She hesitated for a second, then added, "And, um, I'm also here because... well, about yesterday. Listen." She took a deep. "I shouldn't have acted like that to you. I'm sorry. It... it wasn't very kind."

Ash's eyes flicked away. "Yeah, it wasn't."

Misty's fists clenched, and a tense silence hung in the air. Was that all he was going to say?

But then Ash stood up, and as he spoke, his sullen expression faded. "But, hey, it's alright, Mist'. I mean, I can't be mad forever, right?" Finally displaying that classic grin of his, Ash held out his hand, and she clasped it in hers gratefully, casting him a smile of her own. Delia walked over and placed a hand on her son's shoulder, and the raven-haired trainer gave his mom a quick hug.

"So I guess we should get back to business, huh?" Misty suggested. She turned to Gary. "Alright. Tell us everything."

Gary shifted himself, trying to get comfortable. "Yeah, but would you mind stepping back a bit? You're annoyingly close, and I actually value my personal space, thanks."

Misty rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."

"No, I'm actually very easy to get along with once you'd just learn to worship me. But seriously, could you actually move back? I'm getting claustrophobic here."

Ash and Misty both stepped back a few paces, and the Cerulean gym leader let out an impatient huff. "Alright, your highness. Now can you just—"

The door suddenly burst open, and Misty whirled around. A new figure stepped into the room. Ash's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Alright, Mr. Gary Oak," said the boy who'd just entered, reaching up to flick his hair. "I need you to start talking, right now."

Everyone continued to stare, bewildered. Ash, however, seemed more confused than anyone. " _Drew_?" he said, and Misty frowned.

"Wait—you know this guy?" she whispered, and he nodded.

Drew frowned and looked Ash up and down. "You're May's friend, right?"

"Yeah..." Ash said.

"Hey, so am I," Misty put in defensively.

"Well, listen up, May's friends. I'm going to find her," Drew said bluntly. "You can either help me or get out of my way. I need to talk to this guy." He gestured at Gary, and—unsure how to respond—Ash and Misty stepped away, clearing a path to Gary's bed. Drew dragged a chair over and pulled a notebook out of his backpack.

"Okay. I'll repeat myself. I need you to start talking, now."

Gary—confronted, perhaps for the first time in his life, by someone nearly as arrogant and snarky as he was—did not take well to this. "Wait, hold up. I don't even _know_ you. How did you get in here, anyway?"

"I used the door," Drew said, not amused.

"You can't just—"

"Look." Drew slammed his hand down on the nightstand. Professor Oak stepped forward, but Ash quickly shook his head. "May Maple is my—" He stumbled for a second— "my closest friend. I will stop at nothing to find her, got that? So I _need_ you to help me. And I'm not leaving until you do."

Maybe it was the tone with which Drew spoke—how voice had changed when he uttered May's name, or the way he said the word _need_ —that got through to everyone in the room. Whatever the case, Ash stepped forward.

"I'm going to find May, too," the raven-haired boy said firmly.

"Okay." Gary nodded slowly. "Fine. I'll tell you all I know—everything that I saw."

He inhaled deeply, then opened his mouth to begin speaking, and everyone in the room was holding their breath.

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She knew this place.

Korrina stood looking down upon the city. Her eyes drank in the beautiful lights of the Prism Tower. It was Lumiose City.

The sun was just beginning to come up over the horizon. Korrina slowly made her way down into the city. She stepped onto a sidewalk smiled at the feeling of the rough concrete beneath her wheels. For once. Something to smile about.

She knew she had to keep running. It was the only way she'd survive any longer. But she also knew that she couldn't just run forever. The gym leader here—Korrina knew him. He could help her. Maybe she'd be safe here, even if only for a little while...

Korrina's mind barely registered what she was doing until she was standing before the doors of the gym. Cautiously, hesitantly, Korrina pushed open the doors and made her way inside. She realized she wasn't sure whether he actually lived in the gym, or somewhere separate, like some gym leaders did. Would he even be here?

"Hello?" Korrina called uncertainly as she rolled onto the battlefield.

Every time a shadow shifted, Korrina tensed, her hands on her Pokéballs in an instant. If they found her here, she wasn't going down without a fight. Even though she knew she didn't stand a chance against that curly-haired woman—the one who had taken down her Lucario in a half-second with her dart gun.

Team Rocket didn't fight fair, and that was where their advantage lied.

"Hello?" she called again, louder this time, and this time she received a response—the sound of a door opening.

"Who's there?"

A large, brown-haired man stepped out of the shadows, and Korrina instinctively moved backward, eyes narrowing.

"You're not Clemont," she said.

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 **Hey there! I hope this chapter was exciting enough! If you liked it, could you take a little time to drop a review? It helps a lot to know people are enjoying my writing—even if it's just a little "great, keep it up" or something of the like.**

 **Expect the next update within a week or two!**


	5. The Hunt Is On

**I'M SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE FORGIVE MEEEE**

 **Schedules... don't... work for me... uhhh, you guys might have to get used to somewhat larger amounts of wait time between chapters. The next one will be done in two weeks, max. I promise this time!**

 **Once summer hits, though, I'll be able to put out chapters much faster, so I'll try to form some semblance of a schedule by then.**

 **Anyway, this one's REALLY long, as in over 9k words long, and it's super exciting too, sooo... I hope it was worth the wait?**

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 **Chapter Five**

 **The Hunt Is On**

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"You're not Clemont."

With two clicks of her heels, the wheels on Korrina's skates retracted. She stepped backward, pulling out Lucario's Pokéball. Her thumb rested on the button, and she could feel her Lucario's aura pulsing against the pads of her fingers, ready for battle at a moment's notice.

"No, I should certainly think not," the brown-haired man said, hands resting on his hips. "Now, would you mind telling me who you are? And why you're here, while you're at it?"

"I'm looking for Clemont," Korrina said dubiously. "What are you doing in his gym? Are... are you one of them?" The blonde gym leader hated how her voice trembled slightly. She kept her eyes locked on the man, anticipating some kind of attack.

"I'm not sure what you mean by 'one of them,' my dear," the man said, "but as for why I'm in this gym... well, I live here."

Korrina halted. "What?" Taken aback by this response, she lowered her Pokéball for a moment. "But—but you aren't—"

The man crossed his arms. "I'm Clemont's father, Meyer," he said, cocking his head. "And you..." His eyes narrowed in scrutiny, then widened. "Wait—I know who you are. You're Korrina, aren't you?"

Korrina's breath caught, and her heart pounded. If he was lying—if he was a Team Rocket member after all—then it was already too late. He'd caught her. She heard the sound of a switch being flicked, and a half-second later the gym was brightly lit. Korrina winced at the sudden illumination and shielded her eyes.

"So I was right," Meyer said.

Korrina clutched Lucario's ball tightly. Shaking, she looked up and met his eyes, still poised to fight, but was startled by how quickly his gaze had softened."You look like you've been through a lot," he said, stepping closer. "Calm down. You're safe here."

She flinched on instinct when she felt his hand on her shoulder, then relaxed when she realized-

 _He really wasn't going to hurt her._

They both looked up when they heard the sound of the doors opening a second time. A small pajama-clad girl stumbled in sleepily, rubbing her eyes. "Daddy?" she mumbled. "Who's..."

The little girl trailed off, her blue eyes widening as she took in the scene before her, and her mouth dropped open. _"Korrina?"_

Hold on—

Korrina knew this kid.

"Bonnie?" Korrina gasped. The little girl grinned at her, and suddenly a huge wave of relief washed over Korrina. So it was true, after all. This man, Meyer—he really was Clemont's father. Finally, here in front of her was a familiar face.

"Korrina! You're okay!" Bonnie ran forward, crashing into the gym leader and wrapping her arms around her. "But—but you went missing! The news said so! Why'd you disappear, huh?" Bonnie looked up, her lower lip jutting out in a pout. "Don't ever do that again!"

Korrina returned Bonnie's embrace as she started to laugh, and within a few seconds she was crying. She cried and cried and held Bonnie tightly and didn't let go. The impulse to keep running, to look over her shoulder every five seconds—it was still there, but she ignored it. Because for the first time in days, she was actually starting to feel safe.

Just for right now, she was okay.

She could've stayed that way for hours, holding Bonnie, but a voice dragged her back to the present.

"Listen, Korrina."

The gym leader looked up. Meyer was standing over her, arms crossed, and for an instant her shoulders tensed and her sense of safety faltered.

"I don't know what's going on," Meyer said, "but I'm not going to ask you to explain anything until you've gotten some rest. If you've come here seeking refuge, I certainly won't turn you away." He gestured to the huge set of metal double doors leading further inside the building and beckoned her to follow, and Korrina let herself relax again.

"Come with me," Meyer said. Korrina looked down at Bonnie grinning up at her and smiled back.

Meyer led her inside, and as soon as he showed her to a guest bedroom, she collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to remove her skates. Tears of relief began to form in her eyes. She was okay. She was safe. Whoever was chasing her, she was sure she'd thrown them off her trail for now, and everything was going to be fine.

Korrina heard Bonnie squealing about something in the hallway, followed by Meyer gently admonishing her to be quiet. She would have laughed, but she could barely even gather the strength for that anymore.

Seconds later, as the sun lifted in the sky and light began spilling in through the window, Korrina was sound asleep.

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 _"I'm going to find her."_

That was the last thing Max had said to his parents before hanging up. Yesterday, just after the story of May's disappearance had aired on Hoenn TV, they had called him over his PokéNav and insisted he come home. But Max refused. Some part of him knew and acknowledged the fact that they were just trying to keep him safe, and that they'd probably be worried sick about him, but he wasn't about to sit at home and do nothing—not while May was missing.

 _Ash wouldn't sit at home and do nothing. Ash would do something about it,_ Max told himself. _Ash probably_ is _doing something about it. And so will I._

And so here he was, training on the rocky cliffs near Dewford Town. He didn't have a set goal in mind—all he knew was that he needed to be stronger. He and his team had made a lot of progress in the last couple of days alone, but Max had a feeling he'd need a lot of improvement if he was going to have any chance of finding his sister.

Not that he knew how he'd find her. He just knew that he would.

Because he had to.

"Come on, Koko!" Max yelled, pumping his fist in the air. "You can do it! One more round!"

His Grovyle grunted and nodded in assent. "Alright, Shushu, Rara! Let's go!" Max commanded, addressing his Shuppet and Ralts, respectively.

In response, Shushu's eyes began to glow with an eerie blue light, and Rara's with pink. All around them, rocks of all shapes and sizes were lifted off the ground with their combined Confusion power.

"Now!"

All at once, Shushu and Rara sent the rocks raining down on Grovyle. Max's eyes narrowed, and he and Koko tensed at the exact same moment.

"Left!"

Koko's Agility kicked in, and he darted left at a speed impossible to follow.

"Now jump!"

Koko leaped high into the air, rocks sailing beneath his feet.

"Leaf Blade!"

As he fell back to the ground, the Wood Gecko Pokémon tucked and spun, slicing through several chunks of stone with his glowing green tail.

The two continued to dodge the falling rocks in this fashion, almost perfectly in sync. A year of fierce training had served to grow not just their fighting ability, but their friendship; and it was in moments like these—in the heat of battling and training—that this was most evident.

"Right!"

"Duck!"

"Now use X-Scissor!"

On Max's signal, Shushu and Rara halted, scattering the remaining few rocks across the terrain. Koko and Max, both drenched in sweat, shared a grin.

"Nice job, buddy," Max said. "You rocked it." He held up his hand, and the Grass-type gave him a high-five. "No pun intended," Max added as an afterthought.

Max reached up to adjust his glasses, smiling from ear to ear. He vividly recalled seeing Ash train like this before, years ago, when they traveled together. It was Ash who had inspired this style of training—building strength on the bond between himself and his Pokémon, and putting himself out on the field instead of just standing on the sidelines. It was exciting, that was for sure—not to mention rewarding. And it only really required two things.

First, an attentive trainer. And second, trust.

Shushu whizzed over, slamming into Max's chest, and Max laughed as he wrapped his arms around the Puppet Pokémon. "You guys were great too, Shushu, Rara," he said. He turned to look over to where his Mightyena lay dozing in the late morning sun. "Hey, Nana!"

The Mightyena, Nana, looked up. "Your turn next!" Max said. "We gotta work on your speed. I think Koko's catching up to you!"

At this, Nana leaped up, growling. She had a definite spot as the strongest and fastest on Max's team, and knowing her, Max was sure she wouldn't be giving that up anytime soon. Nana bounded over, her tongue lolling out of her mouth, determination gleaming in her eyes. Max grinned and knelt down to scratch her behind the ears.

"We're gonna train real hard," Max said. "All of us—we're going to get so much tougher."

He looked up at the bright blue sky, squinting in the sun's light.

"And then, once we're strong, we're gonna go find May."

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Iris had seen the news this morning. Then again, hadn't everyone? With all that was happening, one thing was a given: people had their eyes glued constantly to the news. And that included Iris.

Her original plan had, of course, been to find Ash and talk to him about it. But after this morning, things got complicated. There had been another attack—and this time, it had happened at Clair's gym.

The aspiring dragon master was flying there now at full speed, with Cilan seated right behind her on Dragonite, his arms wrapped around her waist. With their blatant height difference, it had been a slightly awkward arrangement at first, but Iris didn't frankly care at the moment, and Cilan—well, he had gotten used to it.

The wind rushing through her hair was a familiar and comforting feeling. Iris took a moment to glance around at the scenery. It was actually a really nice day, sun shining brightly, barely a cloud in the sky. It would've been nicer if not for that morning's events.

Just then, Iris' eyes lit up as she caught sight of their destination: Blackthorn City, just visible on the edge of the horizon. She tightened her hold on Dragonite. "Cilan, look! There it is!" she called above the wind.

"That's great, but do you think we could slow down a bit?" Cilan stammered from behind her.

"Come on, Dragonite, faster!" Iris said, ignoring him, and as her Dragonite obliged, Cilan began to turn green. "We're almost there!"

Within a few minutes, they were flying in circles above Blackthorn. Iris gently patted Dragonite's neck to get his attention. "There's the hospital—do you think you can land us right in front of it?" she said.

The Dragon-type snorted in response, as if to say, _Of course I can._ Still, he continued circling above the city, awaiting her orders. Iris smiled despite herself. "Alright, then, take us down," she commanded. The Dragon Pokémon slowed for a moment, then began to descend rapidly, and Iris gripped his neck tightly. Cilan let out a small, involuntary shriek and held on to her as though his life depended on it. Which was completely appropriate, because his life did, in fact, depend on it.

Dragonite dove for the ground at top speed, then landed abruptly, going from over sixty miles per hour to zero in less than a second with absolute precision. Iris, used to this by now, hopped right off and started walking. Cilan's dismount was more of a glorified fall.

"I-Iris! Wait!" he said, scrambling to catch up. "You know you can't just waltz in there and—"

"Yes, actually," Iris said, "I can."

"Iris, please, be reasonable. You have to talk to the receptionist and—oh, for goodness—just let me handle this."

"You try being reasonable when it's someone _you_ know who's been attacked," she snapped, holding out Dragonite's Pokéball and recalling him. "I can handle myself fine." She continued walking briskly towards the front doors, and Cilan reluctantly followed, running a hand through his windblown hair in an attempt to smooth it.

Iris walked through the hospital's doors and stormed through, determined to reach Clair's room-

That is, until her progress was arrested by a pair of employees. They informed her that she'd need to check in before going past the lobby. Now far beyond annoyed, Iris stalked back over to Cilan, muttering under her breath.

The gym leader sighed and shook his head, a small smile forming on his face despite himself. That was just Iris being Iris. She refused to meet his eyes—knowing her, Cilan was sure she'd never be content admitting he'd been right. Cilan placed a hand on her shoulder, and he felt her tense. The phrase " _I told you so"_ rang in his head, but the words died in his throat when he realized—it probably wasn't the best idea to admonish her in this situation.

She was hurt and confused, he reminded himself. He needed to be patient.

Cilan gave Iris' shoulder a gentle squeeze. "It's okay to ask for help, you know," he said softly. "Come on. If you want to see Clair, we can."

Iris looked back up at him, her expression caught between irritation and uncertainty. Cilan cast her a reassuring smile— _I'm here for you, Iris_ —before turning and beginning to walk toward the reception desk.

After a second, she stepped forward. Reached out. Grabbed his hand.

He paused, then returned the gesture, reaffirming his grip. _You can count on me, Iris._

Then she followed.

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When Gary spoke, the room was dead silent.

"I was in the bathroom, washing my hands, and I heard this sound. Must've been the door. I thought it was Grandpa coming home from the Pokémart—he'd gone to get some potions—but... well, it wasn't." The young researcher paused. "There were two women—their names were Annie and Oakley. They were Team Rocket agents." This caused a slight commotion as Drew sat upright, Delia gasped, and Ash and Misty exchanged shocked glances.

"But—but Team Rocket doesn't kidnap people," Ash said, baffled. "They just steal Pokémon, right?"

"I guess they're expanding their horizons. It's always good to be well-rounded in the art of crime," Gary said dryly. "They actually had a really interesting back-and-forth, you know—made a good team. One was blonde, and the other had this weird, really pale silvery hair."

"Wait." Drew stopped him. "Which one had the blonde hair, and which one had the silver?"

Gary hesitated, for a second, thinking. After a moment, he said, "Annie's the blonde one, I think. Oakley's the other one."

"Right. Got it." Drew nodded and made a motion for the young researcher to continue. Gary was unmistakably irked by Drew's attitude, but he continued his story nonetheless.

"So anyway, they tried to shoot me with their little dart gun, and I barely got out of the way. I called out my Pokémon and tried to fight them off, but we were outnumbered, so I decided trying to escape was a better idea. I almost got out of the lab, but they shot at me again, and this time they didn't miss." He shrugged. "The dart hit me in the leg. I blacked out a few seconds later. I don't know what happened after that—just that Gramps saved me."

All eyes now turned toward Professor Oak, who sighed.

"I suppose you want me to relate my account of the attack, as well?" he asked. When everyone in the room nodded in confirmation, he sighed again and adjusted himself in his seat. "Very well, then."

"I was, as Gary said, at the Pokémart purchasing a new supply of potions. Around the time he was attacked, I was walking home. I heard the sounds of a fight from down the road, and then I heard Gary's yell. It sounded like he was in pain. I got there as fast as I could. There were two women there—I presume these were Annie and Oakley—and they attempted to fight me off. I'm sure they would have succeeded, too, if Officer Jenny hadn't show up in time."

"How did she know to come?" Misty asked, frowning.

"Ah, that's right. I sent my Pidgeot to get the police as soon as I arrived at the scene." Professor Oak ran a hand through his graying hair. "And it's a good thing I did. I don't know what I would have done if I lost G—" The rest of the sentence caught in his throat. "If Team Rocket had succeeded."

There was a heavy pause, and Drew's expression darkened.

If only someone could've been there to save May.

If only _he_ had been there.

After several moments, Gary finally spoke up, breaking the silence. "Gramps, there's a transport system here, right?" he asked. "Can you get my Pokémon from the lab? I want to see them. You know, make sure they're okay."

"Of course," Professor Oak said, standing up. "Blastoise, Electivire, and Umbreon, right?"

"Right." Gary nodded.

"I'll be right back with them." The professor turned and walked out of the room, letting the door fall shut behind him.

Drew turned back to Gary. "Are you sure there's nothing else you can remember? No other details about the Team Rocket agents? Anything they said to you that might be useful?" As he spoke, one hand anxiously toyed with the ring on his left index finger, a nervous habit he'd taken to when he started wearing it. Set in the ring was a glassy, multicolored stone.

"I don't think so." Gary shrugged, then winced. "Ah! S-stupid bruised ribs," he gasped, voice tight with pain.

Drew's brow creased. Everything Gary and his grandfather had told him didn't add up to much of a lead. If he was going to find May, he'd need more than that. He was about to speak again when Ash interrupted his thoughts.

"Is that a Key Stone?" the raven-haired trainer asked, referring to Drew's ring.

"Yeah," the coordinator said. He glanced down at his hand, then back up at Ash. "My Absol can Mega Evolve."

"That's so cool," Ash said. "Gary, you've got a Key Stone, too, right?"

"A Mega Stone," Gary corrected. "I'm still looking for a Key Stone. They're pretty hard to find in stores, and even when you can find them, they're expensive."

Drew nodded. He had gotten lucky and bought his Key Stone during a sale, and May had been awarded hers for winning a special contest. He'd had to pay full price for his Absolite, though, and it had definitely put a huge dent in his wallet.

"Oh, speaking of that, I never got to see your Blastoisinite up close," Misty spoke up suddenly. "I'd really like to. Do you have it with you?"

"Yeah, I've got it." Gary shifted uncomfortably and patted his pockets, but came up empty. A perplexed look crossed his face. "That's... weird. I definitely had it in my back pocket. Unless..."

As if on cue, Professor Oak walked back in the room. He opened his mouth to speak, but Gary cut him off. "Gramps, do you have my Blastoisinite?" he asked, his tone urgent. "Did the hospital staff take it off me or something?"

"Not that I know of," Professor Oak responded. He frowned, his worry lines becoming visible. "Why? Is it missing?"

"It's not anywhere on me," Gary responded. "Do you think..."

The brown-haired boy suddenly paused, a look of realization dawning on his face. "The Rockets stole it, didn't they?" he said quietly.

The professor's eyes widened. "Without you noticing? How could they have..."

"They knocked me out. It would've been too easy." Gary clenched his fists. "And it wasn't just me, either." He turned to Drew. "What about May—she had a stone too, didn't she? A Blazikenite?"

The green-haired coordinator nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

"And Ash," Gary said, "That gym leader who disappeared? Didn't she have one?"

"Korrina... yeah, she did," Ash realized, eyes wide as he began putting the pieces together. "I beat her once before. Her—her Lucario could Mega Evolve..."

"And Zoey, too," Drew added. "The other coordinator who went missing. I battled her. She Mega Evolved her Gallade in the last Grand Festival."

Gary's mouth formed a hard line.

"That's all four," he said.

There was a stunned silence as the possible implications of this began to set in. It all fit perfectly. They'd found the common thread between all four attacks so far—between each and every trainer who'd been kidnapped. Drew's mind raced. This was it. This was his clue, his new lead.

"This is big," he said. "This is really big."

"Well," said Misty, "what do they want the _trainers_ for? Why not just steal the Mega Stones, if that's what they're after?"

"That's a good point," said Gary. "It must be more than that. They want the stones _and_ the trainers, for some reason. Maybe... they're trying to recruit people?"

"But that's crazy!" Ash burst out. "May and Korrina and Zoey—and you, too—none of you would ever work for Team Rocket!"

Gary shrugged. "Maybe they're trying to do research or something, or make sure no other trainers can use Mega Evolution besides them. There are a lot of possibilities. Anyway, this explains a lot about why they're kidnapping people. And if we want to find them, we can use this information."

Drew opened his mouth to add something, but Gary held up his hand. The green-haired coordinator scowled as Gary continued. "If we know why they're targeting people, we can figure out where they're going to strike next." He took a deep breath. "And if we can do that, we'll be able to intercept their next move and find the missing trainers."

"But how?" Misty said. "There are so many trainers out there who can Mega Evolve their Pokémon..."

"Not that many," Gary contradicted. "Those stones are hard to get. And given that all of their targets so far are top-notch—two Top Coordinators and a gym leader—and me, obviously, because we all know I'm definitely top-notch—it's safe to assume that Team Rocket's probably got their eye on more well-known trainers." He grabbed Drew's notebook from the night table. "So the first thing we've got to do is make a list."

"Give that back," Drew said sharply.

"No, thanks, I think I'll keep it," Gary said coolly. He then plucked Drew's pen from the night-table and began to write.

Drew clenched his fists. "You can't just—"

"Actually, I can," Gary said, cutting him off. "Besides, you're the one who just barged in here like you own the place. So quit whining about me borrowing your pen."

Drew's eyes narrowed, and the two boys stared each other down for several moments.

"Um," Misty broke in tentatively, "guys—"

"Whatever," Drew muttered, looking away. "Fine. Let's just make this stupid list already."

"'Stupid list'? Listen, grasshead, you're the one who's so intent on figuring this out," Gary said, rolling his eyes. "It's not like we're even going to make a difference, anyway. There's no way we'll be able to find the missing trainers on our own. What can we do that an entire police force can't?" He tapped the open notebook page with the tip of the pen. "I'm only doing this because of you." His eyes darted toward Ash for a second, and he added, "And Ash."

"Okay, first of all, never call me grasshead again," Drew said, to which Gary smirked. "And second of all, fine. So whatever we do might not make a difference. I'm still going to give it a shot."

Gary shrugged. "And I already said I'll help you. So let's make this list." He held up the notebook. "We need names, first off—names of any trainers you can think of who can use Mega Evolution. Coordinators, gym leaders, anyone."

There was a lull in the conversation as they all began racking their brains, trying to conjure up names. "Ash," Misty said after a second, "didn't you battle someone in the Kalos conference who—"

"That's right!" Ash said, snapping his fingers. "Alan! He won the Kalos League with his Mega Charizard."

"Right. Got it," Gary said, already writing. "X or Y?"

"Huh?" Ash's brow furrowed.

"Which Mega Evolved form did his Charizard take—X or Y?"

"Oh." Ash paused. "Um..."

Gary sighed. "What did it look like when it Mega Evolved?"

"Well, it was black, and it had blue fire instead of red," Ash said.

"Then it was Mega Charizard X." Gary wrote this down, then looked up. "Okay. Who else?"

"There's this gym leader in Kalos named Wulfric," Ash said. "His Abomasnow can Mega Evolve. Uh, I'm not sure which—"

"There's just one Mega-Evolved form of Abomasnow." Gary jotted down Wulfric's name and his Pokémon. "The only Pokémon confirmed to have two different Mega Evolutions is Charizard. There are rumors about Mewtwo, but... well, it's not like we can confirm that Mewtwo even _can_ Mega Evolve in the first place."

"Why not?" Ash said, sounding surprised.

"Why don't _you_ try getting that thing into a Pokéball?"

"Oh..."

Ash paused, then said, "Well, can't you just ask it if it can Mega Evolve?"

This got a sigh of annoyance from Drew and a preposterous laugh from Gary. Misty, meanwhile, gazed back at Ash with an expression of deep thought.

"Okay, Ash, you tell me once you've managed to find Mewtwo and somehow gotten it to talk to you," Gary said, shaking his head. "You do realize that some researchers debate whether Mewtwo even actually ex—"

"Okay," Ash said, shrugging. "I'll tell you. I've found Mewtwo and gotten it to talk to me."

"What the— _when_?" Gary said, disbelief plain on his face.

Ash shrugged. "I dunno, four years ago?" He glanced at Misty for confirmation, and she nodded. "Yeah. I was still traveling with Brock and Misty. We found it up on a mountain or something."

"Mt. Quena," Misty supplied. "He's telling the truth, Gary. Do you even _know_ how many Legendary and Mythical Pokémon we encountered when we traveled together?"

"I met even more on my other journeys," Ash added. "Let's see... Mewtwo, Entei, Lugia, Ho-oh, Zapdos, Moltres, Articuno, Suicune, Raikou, Celebi, Groudon, Kyogre, Regice, Registeel, Regirock, Manaphy, Phione, Mew, Latias, Latios, Rayquaza, Azelf, Uxie, Mesprit, Dialgia, Palkia, Giratina, Shaymin, Heatran, Regigigas, Cresselia, Darkrai, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Keldeo, Virizion, Terrakion, Cobalion, Tornadus, Thundurus, Landorus, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Meloetta, Victini, Jirachi, Genesect, Diancie, Hoopa, Deoxys, Volcanion, Magearna... yeah... I think that's about it." He frowned. "Oh, and Arceus."

By now, everyone in the room was staring at him, dumbfounded.

"I think..." Professor Oak blinked in shock. "I think that's... literally all of them."

"Arceus?" Gary looked ready to flip a table. "You're telling me you met McFreakin' _Arceus_?"

"Yeah. We're kind of friends now, actually," Ash said, apparently not fully aware of how huge and unbelievable this was. He was met with speechless stares from everyone except for his mother.

The silence stretched on, and Delia laughed nervously. She'd been quite aware of all of Ash's insane adventures, long before today's conversation. She cleared her throat and said, "Why don't we get on with this list?"

"That's... a good idea," Gary said weakly. Drew, who'd been silent this entire time but looked no less taken aback, merely nodded.

Misty sighed and murmured a quiet "Ash Ketchum" under her breath before nodding. "Yeah... yeah, the list. Speaking of that, there's a gym leader in Johto—Falkner, remember him? The stuck-up guy. There was something on the news about him getting a Mega Stone."

"Right." Gary wrote down his name. "And his Pokémon?"

"Not sure." Misty shrugged. "He's a Flying-type gym leader, though, so that kind of narrows it down."

"Right. We'll figure that out later."

"Oh, wait—never mind." Misty pulled out a sleek white smartphone. "I keep forgetting I bought this thing... I can just look it up right now. This hospital's got WiFi, right?"

"It does," Professor Oak confirmed.

"Hmm... let's see..." Misty began typing and fiddling with the phone. "Okay, hold on... I've gotta go get the password. I'll be right back," the redhead said as she turned to exit the room.

"Right." Gary twirled the pen around in his fingers. "Any others you guys can think of?"

"The champion of Hoenn," Drew said. "Steven Stone. He can Mega Evolve his Metagross. The Elite Four, too—Sidney, Phoebe, Glacia, and Drake."

"And the Kalos champion, Diantha. Her Gardevoir can Mega Evolve," Ash added. "I dunno about the Elite Four, though. Well, I guess it's the Elite Three now. One of them turned out to be evil and went to jail when she was done helping me and Alan save the world from a lion-haired guy named Lysandre."

"I'm not even going to ask," Gary muttered as he wrote down the names.

"Oh, and one of the Sinnoh gym leaders," Drew added. "Fantina, I think? She's a Top Coordinator as well. May and I competed in a contest that she hosted in Hearthome City. Her Gengar can Mega Evolve."

"Got it," Gary said, writing it down.

"Hold on, why are we even worrying about any of these people?" Drew said suddenly. "Team Rocket is a Kanto-based organization, right? So shouldn't we be more focused on trainers who live in Kanto?"

"I think it's become pretty clear that Team Rocket's not afraid to target people who live outside the Kanto region," Gary said grimly. "There have been four attacks so far, after all, and only one of them has actually been in Kanto."

At that moment, Misty entered the room again, and everyone looked up. She was staring at her phone, eyes wide, as she walked slowly over to them.

"Hey, Misty," Gary said, getting her attention. "Since you've got your phone, can you figure out if there are any other gym leaders who are capable of using Mega Evolution?"

"Um..." Ignoring his question, the redhead swallowed and looked up at them. "You guys... I think you might want to see this."

She held it out so they all could see the screen, and Drew and Ash leaned in to see. Delia and Professor Oak clustered around to see as well, while Gary said dryly, "Wow guys, that's a great view you're giving me. I can totally see it from where I'm virtually immobile with bruised ribs in this hospital bed."

He was ignored.

"This is... this is very bad," Professor Oak said.

"I can't believe..." Delia shook her head. "It's all happening so quickly. Another one in just a day..."

"Less than a day," Misty said tremulously. "The article states that he was attacked early this morning, barely twelve hours after they went for Gary..."

"Wait, another attack? What's going on?" Gary demanded.

Misty took a deep breath, then walked over and handed him the phone. "I... I looked up 'Falkner Mega Evolution' and... this article was the first result to pop up."

Gary stared at the screen before him. The headline of the online article read: "MYSTERIOUS KIDNAPPERS STRIKE AGAIN? Gym leader Falkner gone missing at the Blackthorn City gym!"

Team Rocket had made another move.

And the target of their fifth attack had been Falkner.

For a long moment, Gary just stared at the headline. Finally, in a low voice, he said, "I told you."

No one responded, and he repeated, "I told you. There aren't that many trainers capable of Mega Evolution. Falkner was one of the first names on our list—and it turns out his name was on their list, too."

Everyone knew he was right; their lack of response was confirmation enough.

Gary had an unexpected, strange feeling then—almost like a premonition. And all of a sudden, he had the conviction that he knew what was going to happen next. His heart started to pound as he wondered what Team Rocket's next objective would be. He wondered if they would seek to... well, to cover their tracks.

If they'd make another attempt at capturing him.

 _No_ , he told himself, dismissing the notion. _Don't think like that. I'll be fine._ In fact, his grandfather had already spoken to Officer Jenny about that. Starting tonight, there would be two guards stationed outside his door at all times, at least until he was able enough to defend himself on his own.

If they came for him again, he'd be protected this time.

"Oh, Gary," Professor Oak said suddenly. "I know it's not the best time, but I upgraded your Pokédex recently—remember that?"

"Uh, yeah..." Gary said, not sure why he was bringing this up now.

"Ash, do you have your Pokédex with you? Would you mind handing it over for a moment?" the professor continued, turning to Ash. Also somewhat confused, the raven-haired boy nodded and pulled the Dex out of his back pocket.

"Thank you, my boy," Professor Oak said, taking it from him. He fished a tiny rectangular chip out of one of his lab coat's many pockets, and then he began fiddling with the Pokédex. After a second, a small compartment popped open, and the professor inserted the chip into the device before snapping the compartment closed.

"There you are," Professor Oak said. "It's not much of an upgrade—I've just added an application that allows you to register your Pokédex with someone else's. You'll be able to see each other's locations on a map, similarly to how a Pokégear functions. Here—why don't you register yours with Gary's?"

The professor handed the Pokédex back to Ash, and Gary pulled his out of his pocket.

"Hold them out so they're near each other. They don't have to touch," Professor Oak instructed, and the two boys did so. After a moment, both Dexes made a little chiming sound. Gary peered down at the screen, which now read, _Register Ash Ketchum as a friend?_

Gary clicked the "yes," option, and the device chimed again. He heard Ash's Dex do the same a moment later.

"I'm calling the application 'Find Your Friends,'" Professor Oak explained. "All you have to do is open up the map option, and you'll see each other's locations as little green dots. The Pokégear can do exactly that and much more, of course, as can the Pokénav and the XTransceiver, but since many trainers don't invest in any of those, it's a useful app to have on the Pokédex itself. Tracey suggested the idea to me."

"Huh. Sounds cool," Ash said.

"Now maybe we can actually keep track of you next time you dash off to another region," Misty teased, provoking a glower from Ash.

"Oh, speaking of Tracey, where's he been?" Gary asked. "I haven't seen him at all since I got back from Sinnoh."

"He actually went back to visit his family as well," Professor Oak said. "He's been such a good help to me. It's been a tad difficult not having him around, but I can manage for a couple weeks."

"Okay, can we get back on task here?" Drew said. "Because if all you guys plan to do is chitchat, there are better ways I could be spending my time."

"Okay, okay, sheesh," Gary said, rolling his eyes. "Keep your pants on."

Still trying to shake off the bad feeling, Gary tapped the notebook with the pen and said, "Alright, let's get on with it."

.

.

.

Meanwhile, the two Rocket agents continued their stake-out. Annie and Oakley watched the halls of the hospital. They watched as the boy and his Pikachu and his friends eventually left. They watched as the hallways emptied out, and as they then went dark.

They watched. They waited.

And when night fell, they struck.

.

.

.

Dawn still wasn't really able to think straight.

As she lay in a comfortable but unfamiliar bed, staring up at the blank white ceiling, she thought of home. Of her pastel pink, pretty-as-a-princess room, where she'd stuck glow-in-the-dark constellation stickers on the ceiling above her bed. She'd received the stickers as a Christmas present when she was eight, and she could remember years' worth of sleepless nights when she'd just stare up at those glowing stars for hours.

Here, though, at the Pokémon Center in Verdanturf City, hundreds of miles from home, there were no familiar star-shaped stickers to comfort her. Her mother wasn't asleep just down the hall. Her Pokémon were sleeping happily in their balls, and Dawn was all alone with her thoughts.

She'd been scared of the dark when she was small. She remembered crying and hiding under her blankets some nights when her mom forgot to leave the hall light on. But, like most of her old clothes and picky eating habits, Dawn had grown out of that by now. Her first journey had changed her so much. At thirteen, Dawn was a completely different girl than she'd been when she first started out. She didn't get homesick much anymore, didn't complain as much, didn't cry over her losses, and she definitely wasn't still scared of the dark. At least, not most of the time.

But tonight, the shadows made her shiver.

And she'd never missed home as much as she did right then.

She wasn't totally on her own, though. Smiling slightly, Dawn rolled over in bed to glance at Serena, lying on the little sofa across the room. Serena had sensed Dawn's apprehension at the thought of staying at the Center alone that night, so the honey-haired girl had offered that Dawn sleep in her own room. She'd even insisted on sleeping on the couch so that Dawn could have the bed.

It was funny how, right when Dawn had needed someone most, there was Serena. Like a little miracle, just for her.

She couldn't wait for the contest tomorrow.

With everything that had happened, Dawn had been debating going back home and just dropping competition altogether this year. She'd lost all motivation when Zoey and May disappeared. The only reason she was even considering the possibility of a journey was her Pokémon. They loved the spotlight just as much as Dawn did, if not more, and she didn't want them to have to sit out for a whole year just because she'd lost her drive.

But maybe, after today...

Dawn decided she'd come to a decision based on the results of the contest tomorrow. Not necessarily based on whether she won or lost—though that probably would affect her choice to a degree—but on how it _felt_. The rush and excitement of the competition.

She remembered last year, in the Sinnoh Grand Festival... Dawn had faced off against May in the semifinals, but she'd lost, and May had gone on to confront Drew in the finals. After a long and grueling battle, the plucky brunette managed come out victorious, winning by a sliver of a point and receiving her first well-earned Top Coordinator title.

What an incredible feeling that had been, competing alongside her friends. Even though she was a little sad she wasn't able to claim first place, it was always thrilling to see her friends succeed.

Maybe all she needed was some fresh inspiration. Like Serena. Like just one more contest, just one more reminder of what it felt like to be on stage.

Dawn closed her eyes, imagining the constellations glowing above her. Imagining that she was little again, that her mom was just down the hall, and there were no missing trainers to worry about or mysterious kidnappers to be afraid of.

"It'll be okay," she whispered into the dark, and though she didn't believe it for a second, speaking the words still made her feel a little better.

.

.

.

There was a lot to talk about over dinner that night, but no one seemed to be able to bring it up. Ash, Misty, and Delia ate in silence. Ash didn't really want to talk about it anyway. Every time he tried to say something, the words stuck in his throat.

Drew was there, at their house. When they'd asked him where he was going to go next, he said something about staying in the Pokémon Center and then leaving for Blackthorn City, and Delia had offered him a place to stay. She said they had an extra guest room, and that maybe he'd be more comfortable staying with friends.

The look he had given her in return said loud and clear that Ash and Misty _were not_ his friends, but for a second, something flickered there, and he finally voiced his response: a gruff "yeah, okay" as he looked away.

He'd declined Delia's offer to have dinner with them and gone straight to the guest room, and none of them had seen him since. So now here they were, eating dinner in heavy silence.

Ash had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach—almost like some kind of premonition. Whatever was going on with the missing trainers, he was certain it was going to get a lot worse. That was the very reason he'd stopped by the lab to fill up his team, choosing only his strongest battlers. He had the inkling that he'd be glad for it later.

They finished dinner. Ash rinsed off his plate and stuck it in the dishwasher, and Misty followed suit.

"I'm going to bed," he mumbled.

He said goodnight to his mom and she gave him a hug and a kiss and told him she loved him. As he walked to his room, he paused, lingering in the hallway. He looked back at her, humming as she cleared away the remaining dishes on the table.

"I love you, too," he whispered under his breath, and then he turned and walked to his room, wondering what he'd ever do without her.

.

.

.

Gary woke to find his Umbreon nudging him.

Her cold, wet nose was pressed against his cheek, and when he opened his eyes, he saw an urgency in her expression that startled him. "What is it, girl?" he whispered, his voice barely audible. She'd been lying beside him when he had fallen asleep earlier, but now she was up and alert, looking braced for a fight.

And then he heard something that made his stomach drop.

"Get them," a voice hissed somewhere in the darkness. "Get them both—now."

Gary tensed when he heard the voices. That couldn't be who he thought it was, could it? Heart pounding wildly, he stayed perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe.

There was a shuffling noise. "Give me the dart gun. Let's make this quick."

That was enough of a confirmation in itself. Gary clenched his fists. He'd been right; Team Rocket had come back for him. How they'd snuck past the guards outside the door, he didn't know—but right now, that didn't matter. This was it. They were here.

He was their next target.

And he sure as hell wasn't going down without a fight.

"Who's there?" he called, his voice shaking slightly as he tried to sit up. Pain flared through his chest, and he stifled a gasp.

He received no answer. The hospital room was dark, but not too dark to see most of it. Where were they hiding...? Slowly, gingerly, Gary swung his feet over the side of the bed and stood. Umbreon hopped down from the bed and landed just in front of him, poised to protect her trainer.

Gary's mind raced. He wanted to believe he could fight them—but then he remembered last time. He remembered how he'd barely held up against them when he was fully mobile, and he knew then that he didn't stand a chance. Team Rocket didn't fight fair. "Umbreon," he said quietly, as one hand reached behind his back and pulled out his pocketknife, "I need you to go get help. Find—find Ash. Shatter that window with a Shadow Ball and run, and no matter what happens to me, don't look back." His other hand popped her shrunken Pokéball off his belt and handed it to her. "Take this."

She looked up at him and whined, and he smiled grimly. She was worried about him. "Take it, Umbreon," he said.

With another whine, she took it in between her teeth. She cast him a long, anxious stare before turning back to face the window, preparing a Shadow Ball attack. Gary closed his eyes. He heard the window shatter, and opened them again just in time to see the blur of Umbreon's glowing rings as she vanished into the night.

Then, just as he switched the blade open behind him and sliced into his hand, a dart shot out of nowhere and hit him straight in the gut.

Gary's eyes widened. The knife clattered to the ground. He stumbled backward, but rather than the intense drowsiness he'd been expecting, he was met with an intensely painful tingling in his muscles. He tried to move, but his body wasn't working properly. His muscles were stiff and locked up.

His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground—still conscious, but unable to move or make a sound.

Gary's mind spun and whirled uncontrollably. Whatever was in that dart, it definitely hadn't been Sleep Powder. Gary tried to figure out what it could be, but his thoughts were shattered when he was grabbed roughly by two pairs of hands. Spots of pain danced in front of his eyes, and he struggled to concentrate on what they were saying.

"Doesn't look too hurt."

"Mmm. I heard some of the staff talking earlier. His ribs are bruised up, but other than that, he's fine."

"Bruised ribs? Yikes, that's rough."

"Oh, please. _You're_ the one who threw him up against the wall last time."

One of the agents jabbed him right in the chest, and pain shot through his body. He would have cried out, but his throat wasn't working the way it should have been. "You awake, little boy?" a voice sneered at him. "It's us. We're back. We're taking you straight to the base, and don't you dare try to pull anything on us, because you aren't getting away. This time, no one's going to be there to save you."

Gary tried to speak, but all he could manage was an barely audible grunt. _You're wrong_ , he thought, gritting his teeth. _Just you wait._ His mind flashed back to the image of his Umbreon leaping out the window. If only Ash could get here fast enough...

What happened next he couldn't be sure of. There was a blur of color as he was lifted up and thrown, and something—he guessed it was some kind of Pokémon—caught him. The stabbing pain in his chest intensified, and as he gasped for air, each breath seemed to hurt more than the last.

"...sure you get the old guy, would you?"

"Right, right..."

 _Wait, what?_ Gary's eyes opened wide, and though he was being held at an uncomfortable angle, he was just barely able to watch as the silver-haired woman, Oakley, shot his grandfather with another dart, while Annie grabbed him and dragged him over to the Pokémon that was holding Gary.

 _No_ , he thought. _No, no, no._ The last thing he needed was his grandpa getting captured, too. _Ash, please_ , he thought desperately. _Please hurry. You have to get here_ now.

But it was a pointless hope. His Umbreon was fast, but there was no way she'd be able to reach Pallet Town that quickly. It'd take her at least fifteen minutes even if she was running at full speed, which he was sure she was. Ash would never get here in time.

Gary cursed himself mentally. Why had he told her to get Ash? Surely there was a nearby police station that could send help faster. But then, they'd probably have trouble understanding exactly what was going on, and they might even just ignore Umbreon... no. The only person he knew for certain he could count on for help was Ash. And the only way Ash would be able to help him was if Gary bought him some time.

He had to do something... he had to slow them down somehow... Gary racked his brain trying to think of something, but what could he possibly do? He was completely paralyzed.

Paralyzed. _That was it!_ They'd used Stun Spore in their dart guns, Gary realized, wanting to smack himself. It was so obvious... But there was no time for self-critique. If all that he knew about spore-induced paralysis was correct—and it certainly was—then Gary was well aware that it wasn't absolute. Pokémon were sometimes able to break through paralysis in battle, even if just for a moment.

And that meant he could break through it now.

If he could just reach his Pokéballs... Gary gritted his teeth, focusing all of his energy on just moving one arm. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. His heart skipped a beat when he was able to jerk his arm just slightly—barely enough to knock one of his Pokéballs off his belt.

 _Yes!_

The ball bounced a couple times, then knocked against the wall, and there was a bright white flash as the button was hit. His Blastoise appeared a second later, yawning and looking tired.

It took a second for the Pokémon to take in the situation—but once it had, all traces of sleepiness vanished.

"Wh-what's going on?" Annie said, backing away. "How did he—"

"That doesn't matter!" Oakley snapped, grabbing two Pokéballs of her own and tossing them in the air. "Raticate! Ariados! Get that Blastoise! Dragonite—take the captives and go!"

The Pokémon that was holding Gary—apparently a Dragonite—began moving, and Gary's heart jumped into his throat as it leaped out the window. A sharp gust of wind caught Dragonite's wings, and then they were soaring, higher and higher, farther and farther from the hospital. The shouts and sounds of battle began to fade. A few seconds later, Annie and Oakley soared out the window on a Skarmory.

"We did it," Oakley said, laughing, as they caught up with Dragonite. "We actually did it..."

"Don't get cocky now," Annie warned. "We've still got to get the other two, remember?"

"Piece of cake," Oakley dismissed. "By the time the sun's up, we'll have the Oaks, plus Sycamore and Rowan! Domino's gonna be just _green_ with envy..."

Gary's heart pounded as he stared down at the moonlit landscape far below him, heading to who-knows-where. He glanced at his grandfather, who hadn't woken up the entire time. He tried not to imagine what Team Rocket wanted with them, and what would fate would await them when they landed.

He closed his eyes and thought of Ash.

.

.

.

There was an odd scratching noise echoing through the house.

Pikachu's ears twitched. The Mouse Pokémon opening his eyes, yawning and wondering what had awoken him. Then the noise came again, and he sat upright, listening intently.

There! A third time. Pikachu turned to Ash, who was still sound asleep. The yellow Pokémon butted Ash's arm gently with his head. "Pikapi!"

But Ash merely rolled over, mumbling in his sleep. With a sigh, Pikachu charged a small amount of power in his cheeks before tapping Ash with his tail, giving him a very slight electric shock. Ash yelped as he was zapped leaped up.

"Pikachu!" he cried. "Wh-what was that for?" He glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand and yelped a second time. "Wh—it's the _middle of the night,_ Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu shushed him, pricking one ear and straining to hear the sound. "Pika, pikachu!"

Ash frowned. "I don't hear anything."

"Pika!"

"Okay, okay!" Ash closed his eyes, concentration. "...I _still_ don't—wait." He stood suddenly, apparently having finally heard it. "What was that?"

"Pika pika." Pikachu hopped down from the bed and bounded over to the bedroom door, gesturing for Ash to come with him. His trainer stood and followed, tense and ready. With soft, springy pawsteps, Pikachu made its way down the hall and into the living room, Ash at his heels-

And then the window exploded.

A dark shape darted in through the now-open space, and Ash instinctively called out an attack, but Pikachu didn't move. Rather, the yellow rodent's ears lifted as he sniffed the air.

 _He knew this Pokémon!_

"Pika pikachu," the Mouse Pokémon said in greeting, stepping forward.

"Pikachu?" Ash said, confused. "What's..." His voice trailed off as a familiar vulpine Pokémon with bright red eyes and golden glowing rings stepped out of the shadows.

"Pika!" Pikachu lifted his tail and smiled. "Chaaa!"

But the other Pokémon wasted no time with pleasantries. Her expression was wild with fright. "Umbreon," she said, sounding frantic. "Umbre, umbreon!"

Pikachu stepped back, processing what she'd said. _Wait—Gary was attacked?_

Just then, Misty walked into the room, rubbing her eyes. "Ash? What's going on...?" She blinked as she took in the scene before her. "Is... is that Gary's Umbreon?"

"Pika!" Pikachu confirmed, his voice now equally frantic. He began tugging on Ash's clothes anxiously. "Pipi-kachu!"

"Wait, what? Team Rocket?" Ash said, now on high alert. "Was there another attack?"

Pikachu looked up at Ash, his eyes full of meaning as he continued to tug on Ash's pant leg. Ash looked down at Pikachu, then back up at Umbreon, confusion clouding his expression. "What—what about Gary?"

"Umbreon!" The Moonlight Pokémon turned and placed her front paws on the closed door.

Ash seemed to understand the situation perfectly then. His fists clenched. "Misty," he said. "Go put your clothes on, get your Pokéballs, and wake up Drew. Now. We need to get to the Viridian City Hospital." The seriousness in his voice put Pikachu at ease. This was the Ash he knew: the Ash who never rested when his friends were in danger.

The raven-haired trainer turned and ran down the hallway, before reappearing less than a minute later, fully clothed. He turned the doorknob, and Umbreon rushed out to greet the cold night air, followed closely by Pikachu and his trainer. Ash grabbed the brim of his hat and turned it backwards, then reached behind him and tossed up a Pokéball. Charizard appeared, claws unsheathed and wings extended. Ash climbed onto its back, and Pikachu leaped up onto Ash's shoulder.

Ash looked down at Umbreon, and Pikachu recognized the gleam of determination in his eyes.

"Take me to him."

.

.

.


	6. In a Single Night

**Ok listen,,,,**

 **yes two weeks turned into two months and i am sORRY PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEEE**

 **It's just... the last month of school was awful... and finals happened... and I was really, reeeaaally stressed... and when finals were over and school was over I wanted nothing more than to lie around and eat food and sleep and be a vegetable**

 **so i did**

 **(for a month)**

 **Anyway, now your chapter is here. Voila. If any of you are still out there, um... enjoy? It's over 11k words this time... ahahaha**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Chapter Six**

 **In a Single Night**

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 **.**

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To Gary, it seemed the flight was never going to end.

Annie and Oakley were flying somewhere beside him—or were they behind him? Ahead of him? He was too tired to figure it out, and with the way he was dangling from the Dragonite's arms, it was difficult to see much but the ground below him. He didn't know where his grandfather was—maybe above him, being carried on Dragonite's back.

It wasn't long before they reached the shore, and suddenly they were soaring over water instead of land. Gary found it difficult to keep his eyes open. He was terrified of falling asleep and tried his hardest not to, but it _was_ the middle of the night, after all, and he probably drifted off at one point or another. Blood dripped from his hand and disappeared into the dark sea below. He'd cut open his hand with the intent of leaving some kind of trail, but once they'd reached the ocean, that hope disappeared.

Still, he had to trust that Ash would find a way to follow them.

If not, it was all over.

At one point, he let his eyes fall shut for what couldn't have been more than a second, but when he opened them again, the water below him had turned back to land. The area over which they flew was thickly forested. Gary got the notion that he knew this place well. The trees, the smell of the place... it was too familiar. He heard a voice, probably belonging to Annie or Oakley, and he did his best to focus on their conversation. _I have to figure out more about what's going on..._

"I'm here. Sandgem Town. Our fourth target should be here. And what about you, Oakley?"

Oakley's voice, sounding oddly far away, pierced through a veil of static. "Flying toward Lumiose City. I'm nearly there. That's where he's supposed to be, right? The fifth?"

"Right. There's this kid who's staying with him... An assistant, or something. I think he might be on Domino's list. Watch out for her."

"What do you mean, 'watch out'? I can handle Domino just fine!"

"What I _mean_ is try not to start any fights," Annie said. "I don't care whether you can handle her or not. She's batting for our team, you know."

"Fine..." The radio crackled, then went silent.

Gary tried to stay alert. So they were in Sandgem Town. No wonder it looked so familiar—he'd spent a quite a lot of time here over the past couple years working under Professor Rowan. And Oakley was apparently in Lumiose City... That meant she'd split up with Annie at some point during their journey, though Gary couldn't recall that happening.

"Land down there, Dragonite," he heard Annie say. "In front of the lab."

 _In front of... the lab? What on earth could they want with..._

And then he remembered Oakley's words from earlier that night. _"By the time the sun's up, we'll have the Oaks, plus Sycamore and Rowan!"_

That was it. That was why they were in Sandgem Town. Annie was here for Professor Rowan. And if Oakley was in Lumiose City... then that meant that the fifth target she'd mentioned had to be Professor Sycamore.

It made perfect sense, Gary realized. Professor Rowan and Professor Sycamore had recently been combining their research and studying the history of Mega Evolution together, trying to find its connection to regular evolution... If Team Rocket's objective really _did_ have something to do with Mega Evolution, then it was no wonder that Rowan and Sycamore, two of the leading authorities when it came to Mega Evolution, would be targets of theirs.

The Dragonite's landing was abrupt, and no sooner had the Pokémon landed than it dumped Gary onto the ground. The spiky-haired boy let out a slight, involuntary gasp as the pain in his ribs flared once more. He silently cursed himself, hoping upon hope that she hadn't heard him...

"What was that?"

She'd heard him.

His heart sped up a little, and he continued to curse himself in his head, though a bit more vehemently than before. He heard her footsteps as she walked over to him, quiet on the soft grass, but not completely silent. The Team Rocket agent used her pointed-toe boot to kick him over onto his back, and he winced.

"So he's still awake... hm. Well, he shouldn't be able to move or scream or anything, what with the paralysis and all, but..." Annie's eyes narrowed. "Better play it safe. Dragonite, knock him out."

The young researcher felt a sudden surge of panic. He couldn't lose consciousness. Not now. He had to keep track of where they were, had to know what was going on-

But the next thing he knew, the huge Dragon-type Pokémon had grabbed him roughly and lifted him up. "Slam him against a rock or something," Annie's voice called. "Not too hard, though—we don't want to cause any real damage."

Gary struggled to break through the paralysis just once more, to move, to cry out, to do _something_ , but his attempts were in vain. His heart pounded in his ears. He was completely helpless. There was a sharp, cold pain as the back of his head came into contact with something hard-

And then there was nothing.

.

.

.

Oakley stared down at the laboratory from her Crobat's back. _Professor Sycamore should be asleep right now_ , she told herself. _This'll be too easy_.

However, she was still wracked by nerves as she came in for a landing off to the side of the lab, trying to stay as silent as possible. Annie had said one of Domino's targets was staying here, though Oakley hadn't the foggiest idea of who that could be. _"Some kid,"_ Annie had called him.

"Thanks a lot, Annie. Real specific," Oakley muttered to herself as she recalled her Crobat. Whatever. _Some kid_ certainly wasn't going to be able to stop her. Definitely not tonight.

Once she'd slunk over to the back door, Oakley called out her Ariados and had it spit a tiny bit of acid onto the deadbolt, melting it almost instantly. Braced for some kind of alarm, she waited a couple more seconds, but when there was no reaction, she reached out and turned the knob, letting herself in easily.

Too easily, she couldn't help but think to herself as she recalled her Ariados. Only one lock on the door, and no alarm... For such a high-profile professor, the security measures seemed oddly lacking. Forcing herself to brush off her uncertainty, Oakley stepped into the lab.

Despite her choice of footwear—high-heeled, pointed-toe black boots—her footsteps were catlike in their quietness. If there was one thing Oakley was a master of, it was stealth. Annie would probably claim that the only thing Oakley was good at was showing off her ego, but in moments like these, the silver-haired woman's skill was evident.

All she had to do was get in, get the professor, and get out. No chitchat this time around. Not after what had happened at the Oaks' lab...

Oakley slipped silently from room to room, taking note of each exit she saw, keeping an eye out for potential alarm triggers, and searching for where the professor might be sleeping. She crept up the stairs and down a hallway, which led her to what looked like a regular living space. One door hung slightly ajar, and when she peered in, she saw a bed and a few other dark shapes that resembled furniture. An empty bedroom, likely for guests. Oakley smiled to herself. She was headed in the right direction.

No one had noticed her yet, and it was going to stay that way. Oakley would ensure that this time, she'd be completely inconspicuous. If it all went according to plan, no one would even know that Professor Sycamore was missing until morning arrived.

Unfortunately for her, however, Domino had other ideas.

A nearby window shattered with a deafening crash, and glass flew everywhere. In an instant, alarms were blaring. Oakley panicked for a moment, wondering what was going on, but then in through the window leaped a slender figure clothed in a Team Rocket uniform. Her curly blonde hair bounced around her shoulders. Her gaze swiveled around and landed on Oakley, and for a moment her face was a mask of surprise. Within a second, however, it was replaced by a smirk.

"Why, hello there, Oakley darling," Domino said loudly, twirling a tulip between her fingers. "Here to crash my party?"

Oakley stared in shock for a moment as she struggled to process her fellow agent's words. Then her eyes narrowed.

"Crash your— _what_ did you say?" she seethed. " _You're_ the one crashing _my_ party, thanks very much!"

"Mmm, you've got a bit of a point there," Domino admitted. "But my target's here, so I've got a reason. What about you, hon? What are you doing in this dump?"

"For your information, _my_ target's here right now, too," Oakley snapped. "And you're getting in my way. Why on earth did you set the alarms off? Now they'll know we're here! They're probably already awake—"

"Please, like any of them stand a chance against me," Domino cut her off, rolling her eyes. "And you and Annie aren't exactly pushovers, either. Oh, and speaking of Annie—where _is_ your dear older sister?"

"None of your business," Oakley muttered.

"Really, I'm curious," Domino said, her voice dripping with false concern. "Did something happen?"

" _No_ ," Oakley snapped, the alarms echoing in her ears and putting her on edge. Any second now, they could be faced with some kind of security... "And that doesn't matter right now, anyway! I've got important things to take care of, and so do you." With that, she turned to stalk down the hallway-

And was met by the startled face of Professor Sycamore.

The man was standing in his pajamas, a Pokéball in his hand, looking more tired and surprised than anything. "Wh-who are you?" he croaked out, the lingering effects of sleep still audible in his voice.

Narrowing her eyes, Oakley pulled out her dart gun and took aim. He gritted his teeth and lifted the Pokéball, but before he could do a thing, there was a little _pop_ and the dart sank directly into his abdomen. His eyes widened and he began backing away before the Stun Spore took action, and then he crumpled to the ground, completely paralyzed.

Oakley smirked. She was relieved that he'd gone down so easily, but she still needed to get out of here before things got any more complicated. "Looks like my business here is done."

She glanced over her shoulder at Domino, who was looking at her with a scowl. There were footsteps and panicked voices coming from somewhere else in the lab as people inevitably realized there was some form of criminal activity going on. Should a confrontation arise, they would probably pose no _real_ threat, Oakley reasoned with herself, but she still wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.

She called out her Crobat and had it grab the professor in its claws. She turned to the window, gauging its size. It looked big enough for Crobat to fit through—but only just.

Just then, another pajama-clad figure stumbled into the room. He couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen years old, with charcoal-colored hair and icy blue eyes. He took in the situation—the motionless Professor Sycamore, the shattered window, the Team Rocket insignia proudly displayed on Domino's uniform—and lifted one of his Pokéballs in preparation for a fight.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, and much unlike the professor, his voice was cold and steady.

The boy looked familiar to Oakley—too familiar. It took her a second, but she finally realized who he was, and her eyes widened as she began backing away. She couldn't recall his name, but his face was unmistakable. "Crobat, out the window—now," she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. The Poison-type Pokémon obliged with a screech, zipping through the broken window in an instant. Sycamore dangled from its claws, completely limp. Maybe Sleep Powder worked better, but Stun Spore definitely got the job done, that was for sure.

"You're right, Oakley," Domino finally said, ignoring the boy's question, and the haughtiness in her voice made Oakley burn with fury. "I _do_ have important things to take care of. Now get out of my way."

"Do you even know who that _is_?" Oakley hissed at Domino. "That boy—he won the Kalos League! He's _insanely_ powerful—"

"I'm perfectly aware, Oakley dear," Domino said, cocking her dart gun. "I did enough research on my targets to know that much. And it doesn't matter who he is—he still doesn't stand a chance against me."

The boy interrupted their conversation, and this time, his voice was louder, more demanding. "I asked you what you're doing here," he said.

Domino laughed and lifted her dart gun, taking aim. "Well, what do _you_ think we're doing?" she said in a patronizing voice. "Take a wild guess, sweetheart."

 _Pop_.

This kid was faster than the professor had been, though, and he was out of the way in an instant. "Charizard, let's go!" he yelled, hurling his Pokéball into the air. "Get the professor—quick! Don't let them shoot at you!"

No sooner had the Pokémon materialized than it was in motion, roaring and tearing through the room toward the window. It leaped out, barely squeezing through the gap, and as soon as it was in the night air, its wings snapped open.

"Crobat, get out of there!" Oakley yelled. "Use Double Team, then scatter with Agility!" She didn't have to think of this strategy on the spot; it was a well-practiced escape method they'd used more times than she could count. She smirked when she saw the Double Team copies scatter in all different directions. The boy's Charizard was clearly confused beyond belief.

 _Alain_ , Oakley realized snapping her fingers as she realized. That was his name—Alain Silver.

"Take out their Pokéballs, Charizard," the boy commanded now. "Use Dragon Claw!"

"Oh, no you don't," Domino snarled, aiming her dart gun. There was another _pop_ , but the boy was able to dodge Domino's second dart as well. Domino fired a third, he jumped out of the way again-

And suddenly a little girl ran straight into the center of the fight. Charizard had to halt suddenly to avoid ramming into her with its Dragon Claw, and Domino and Oakley both froze in surprise.

The girl had short red hair, and she looked to be about ten or eleven years old. She looked as though she were scared and pretty confused—both of which were justified.

"Alain?" she said, whirling around and trying to take everything in. "What's going on? Are you okay? Who... who are they...?" Her voice trailed off slightly as she rubbed her eyes and started to yawn, but she quickly froze and jumped back to attention. "D-do I need to fight? Chespie and I will—"

"Mairin, no!" Alain said, eyes wild with fear. "You have to get out of here—go—get help, and hurry! They've got the professor!"

"But Alain—"

"Shut up, you brats," Domino snapped, and while both children were distracted, she fired a fourth dart and hit Alain straight in the stomach.

He made a surprised choking sound and stumbled. "Alain!" the little girl, Mairin, cried out in distress.

"Go, Mairin," he said, gritting his teeth, and a second later he collapsed to the ground, completely knocked out. Mairin gasped and ran toward him.

"Annnd... checkmate," Domino said, laughing under her breath. For good measure, she fired another dart, hitting Mairin in the arm. The little girl went down even more quickly than Alain had.

Well, that was that.

Domino turned to Oakley. "You weren't too shabby after all, hon," the curly-haired woman said with a smirk. "Really though, where _is_ Annie? I thought you two were joined at the hip, literally."

"Well, we're not," Oakley shot back, her face growing hot. "We had separate jobs to do tonight, thank you very much. And I'm leaving."

With that, she whirled on her heel and stalked over to the window before letting out a two short, high-pitched whistles. It took a few seconds, but soon Crobat was back, flapping its wings furiously and hovering just below the window. Oakley leaped out, landing gracefully on the Poison-type Pokémon's back.

"Until we meet again," Domino called, blowing kisses and waving. Oakley didn't bother to respond.

"Let's go," she whispered to her Crobat, and they soared off into the distance, swallowed by the night sky.

.

.

.

"Take me to him."

Umbreon nodded to Ash and turned to bolt off into the night. The Pokémon's golden rings glowed brightly in the darkness, lighting the way for Ash. He mounted Charizard and was about to take off when Misty came running out of the house. "Ash, wait!" she called.

He looked over his shoulder at her, scowling. "Misty, Gary's in danger _right now_. If you're going to tell me I'm being too reckless—"

"No," she said, panting, as she came to a halt beside Charizard. "No, Ash—that's not what I—" She broke off, taking a deep breath, then started over. "I'm coming with you, okay? I'm not letting you do this alone."

She held up her hand, and he faltered for a second. Then, despite the direness of the situation, he grinned at her. "Thanks, Misty," he said, reaching down and taking her hand in his. He helped to hoist her up onto Charizard's back, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, adrenaline racing through her body. She didn't completely understand what was going on, and she had a feeling Ash didn't, either, but if Gary was in danger, they had to get to him—now. Misty was fully aware of how rude and arrogant Gary had been when they were younger, particularly towards Ash, but she was also aware of how much he'd changed and how close he and Ash had become.

Misty knew that Ash wouldn't hesitate to call Gary one of his best friends.

Pikachu was seated on Ash's shoulder, per the norm. Ash leaned forward, gripping Charizard's neck, and Misty's stomach fluttered with apprehension. Whatever was about to happen, it was going to be dangerous—that much she knew. But Misty was no stranger to peril. She and Ash had been through a lot of terrifying situations together. They'd always had each others' backs, and this time was going to be no different.

"Let's fly, Charizard," Ash said.

The words had hardly left his mouth before they took off, and soon they were soaring high above the world. It was a beautiful night with almost no cloud cover, and the moon was nearly full. Misty's hold on Ash tightened. They weren't just flying; they were flying _fast_. The world streaked by more and more quickly with each powerful flap of Charizard's wings.

Ash turned around and shouted something at her, but the sound was swallowed by the wind.

"What?" she yelled back, gesturing at her ears to show that she hadn't heard him.

He repeated himself, yelling loud enough this time for her to make out the words. "What about Drew?"

Misty leaned forward and shouted into his ear, "He's coming! He's flying somewhere behind us!"

He nodded and turned back around, leaning forward and gripping Charizard's neck more tightly as they flew faster still. The huge Fire-type had its eyes trained steadily on the tiny dark shape racing along the ground below, her glowing rings making her visible through the thin cover of trees. Pikachu's little paws were clutching Ash's jacket tightly, and the wind roared in Misty's ears and whipped her unkempt hair into even more of a wild mess.

She wasn't sure for how long they flew. Her mind was racing too fast for her to pay attention to the scenery, and it's not like there was much to look at besides trees, anyway. If she squinted she thought she might _almost_ be able to see the ocean in the distance, but she didn't care enough to pay that much attention. There were too many unwelcome thoughts running around in her head.

Were they really going to be able to do anything to save the kidnapped trainers? What did Team Rocket plan to do with them? Were they going to kill them? A chill ran down Misty's spine. Had they _already_ killed them?

She leaned her head against Ash's back and closed her eyes.

Gary and May and everyone else could already be dead, and she'd have no idea.

She was more worried about Ash than anything. Misty wasn't particularly fond of Gary, and though she and May had become friends when Misty had visited Ash in Hoenn years ago, it wasn't like they were close or anything like that. Now that she thought about it, Misty realized she didn't have that many friends. There was Ash, obviously, and Brock. And she'd become closer with her sisters as of late. But other than that, Misty couldn't really think of anyone.

She wasn't sure what to make of the realization. Was she supposed to have more friends than that? Did it matter?

Suddenly Charizard began to slow down. The ferocious wind died as the enormous Fire-type came almost to a halt, now flying in slow circles. Misty risked a peek at the ground. They were lower than they'd been earlier, and from here, she had a clear view of the Viridian City hospital.

As they flew gradually lower, Misty noticed immediately that something was very wrong. The rooms on the second floor all had large windows with classic white curtains, and they all looked exactly the same—which was why it didn't take more than a second to see the one window that had been completely blown out.

"Right there," she said, pointing. "Ash—look. The broken window. That one must be Gary's. Through there will be the fastest way in."

He nodded. "Get us as close as you can to that window," Ash said, addressing Charizard. "Then we'll jump." When they were close enough, Ash shifted his position on Charizard's back so that he was prepared to make the leap to the window. It was far, but not too far—they could make it. Ash turned back toward Misty. "You ready?"

Misty reached forward for a second, then stopped suddenly and pulled her hand back. "Y...yeah. I'm ready." She nodded at him firmly. "Let's go."

Ash turned back to the window, gauging the distance, then vaulted himself off of Charizard's back, diving for the shattered-open window. He only just made it through, tucking and rolling as he hit the ground to avoid hurting himself too badly. Then he stood up and turned to look back at Misty. "Come on, jump!"

The redhead bit her lip nervously, but once she'd positioned herself to jump, she didn't hesitate. She threw herself into the air, and for a second it looked like she'd misjudged, and her jump was far too low, and her stomach dropped in terror because she was going to hit the ground—but then Ash thrust out his arm and grabbed wrist in the nick of time. There was a sharp, painful jerk in her shoulder as he caught her, and her arm caught on a piece of glass, tearing her skin and drawing blood. Misty sucked in a hiss of pain through gritted teeth.

"Misty! You alright?"

"I'm fine, just pull me up," she called. As he began to haul her upwards, she braced her feet against the wall and walked herself up. Finally, he managed to pull her over the windowsill, and she tumbled into the room, one of her legs catching on another piece of broken glass. Panting and shaking, Misty got to her feet as quickly as she could—and nearly fell back to the ground. She reached up to touch her shoulder. She thought she might have dislocated it when Ash caught her, but it felt okay.

"Wh-where's Gary?" she asked, still trembling.

Ash was standing with his back turned, staring at the room before them. He didn't answer for a long moment, and as Misty surveyed the scene, her heart dropped. The room had an unbearable emptiness to it.

"He's gone," Ash finally muttered. "Professor Oak, too. We're—we're too late."

"No..." Misty shook her head. "He can't be gone. This can't..."

Ash cupped his hands around his mouth. _"Gary!"_ he yelled. _"Professor Oak!"_

His voice echoed through the empty room, but it received no response. There was no one here. It dawned on Misty that this time around, Gary had not been the only target; Professor Oak had been sleeping in Gary's hospital room as well, and neither of them were anywhere to be found.

"Pika, pika-chu!" Pikachu called from the other side of the room, placing his front paws on the door that led to the hallway. "Pika!"

Ash turned and met Pikachu's eyes, then ran over and flung open the door, only to find the motionless forms of the guards who had been stationed outside. Ash stepped back, shocked, and Misty's eyes widened. _Could they be...?_

The raven-haired boy dropped to his knees beside the first guard and reached toward her neck, and Misty realized that he was checking for a pulse. The redhead waited with bated breath as he checked both guards and then stood back up. "They're both alive," he said, and Misty was flooded with relief. "Probably asleep or paralyzed, or something like that..."

He paused.

"We've got to figure out where they went. We have to find them," he said at last, his voice shaking slightly. "We _have_ to."

"Pika," Pikachu agreed, nodding.

Just then, something soared through the window. Misty gasped, and Ash whirled around, Pokéball in hand, bracing himself. He lowered his guard when he saw who it was.

The green-haired coordinator jumped off his Flygon and looked around the room, ready for a fight.

"What happened?" Drew said. "Did they..." he trailed off as he began to take in the scene around him. There was blood smeared on the floor and broken glass everywhere, and Gary and Professor Oak were nowhere in sight. He swallowed. "I guess they did."

Ash and Misty nodded silently, and Pikachu moved closer to his trainer.

Drew crossed his arms. "Well, if they kidnapped him, then there goes our lead. I'm guessing you didn't see which way they went?"

"We didn't see them at all," Misty said, her voice tight. "When we got here, they were already gone."

"Then there's no way we're going to be able to find them. Not if they're traveling by air, which they probably are... they could be miles away by now."

"No." Ash's voice was hard. "We'll find him. They couldn't have gotten too far away. There's gotta be a way... Hey!" Ash ran to the window. "Charizard! See if you can find Gary's scent!"

"And how, exactly, do you think your Charizard is going to be able to do that, Mr. Hero?" Drew said skeptically. "Unless you have some kind of sample of Gary's clothes or something, Charizard won't even know what scent it's supposed to recognize—"

"Um! Umbre!" Umbreon interrupted, jumping up and down to get their attention. "Umbreon!"

"That's right!" Ash snapped his fingers. "You know his scent better than anyone else does, don't you, girl?" Umbreon lifted her tail and nodded firmly.

"Okay, so his Pokémon knows his scent. That's obvious. But we're still going to need some kind of trail to follow," Drew said, eyebrows raised. "If they took him by air, we're out of luck. The wind's completely scattered any scent trail by now."

"Umbre!" Umbreon barked at them again, then gestured with her tail to the smear of blood on the ground. She turned and ran to the window. "Umbreon!"

"Blood..." Ash muttered. Misty caught on right away, and her fists clenched. The presence of blood implied that the Rockets must have hurt Gary or his grandfather... but that also gave the three of them a lucky break.

"If one of them is hurt, the wound might have left a blood trail, which gives us something to follow," Misty said, and Umbreon nodded enthusiastically.

"So you've got Gary's trail, then. What are you all waiting for?" Drew said. "If they're flying, they probably have a huge lead on us by now. If we're going to have a chance of catching them..."

"Then we've got to go, now," Ash finished, and Pikachu voiced its assent. Ash turned to Umbreon, and the Dark-type nodded, red eyes flashing, and leaped out into the night. Ash ran toward the window, called for Charizard, and before Misty realized what he was doing, he followed Umbreon's lead, jumping out into the darkness.

"Ash!" Misty yelled, running to the window and looking down. She let out a small sigh of relief when she saw that he'd landed safely on Charizard's back. Exasperated, she shouted down at him, "You can't just go around jumping out of windows like that! What if Charizard hadn't caught you? Good luck rescuing May and Gary with a broken leg!"

"Misty, I'm completely fine!" he called back. "Now come on! We're wasting time standing around in this dumb hospital!"

"If Charizard really _hadn't_ caught you, you'd be in this 'dumb hospital' for a whole lot longer," Misty muttered under her breath as she climbed onto the sill. "Though I doubt you'd be doing much standing..." She took a deep breath. Fighting the urge to close her eyes—she needed to be able to see where she was jumping, or _she'd_ be the one who ended up with a broken leg—Misty threw herself off the windowsill.

She managed to make it onto Charizard's back, though it was far from graceful; she landed on her stomach and immediately scrambled for a grip so she wouldn't tumble right off. "Okay, Charizard," Ash said almost as soon as she'd jumped. "Follow Gary's Umbreon!"

Charizard roared its assent and began flying. Misty managed to get herself into a sitting position and glanced behind her. Drew's Flygon was much smaller than Charizard, and it was able to soar straight out of the window with Drew on its back. No life-risking jumps necessary there.

They began to pick up speed, and Misty glanced up and wondered briefly how on earth Ash's hat stayed on. Pikachu's little claws were dug deep into the fabric of Ash's shirt once again as the little Pokémon held on for dear life, but when Pikachu looked back at Misty, he didn't appear scared. Rather, he looked just as determined as Ash did.

Despite the situation, Misty found herself smiling slightly. In all these years, Ash and Pikachu hadn't changed a bit. They'd gotten stronger, sure, and they'd gained all kinds of experience and new friends over the years—but at the core, the two were still just the same as they'd been back when Ash was only ten years old and just starting out.

They flew faster and faster, and as the wind picked up, Misty leaned her head against Ash's back and stared out at the world as it blurred by. They stayed like that for a long time, passing over cities and forests, and she began to wonder if Umbreon was getting tired, running all that way.

She wondered just how long and how far and how fast Umbreon would run to save her trainer.

Eventually, Misty closed her eyes.

 _Everything was going to be okay..._

She had a sudden, troubling thought then. Brock. He'd gotten a Key Stone recently... What if he was attacked, too? Misty, Ash, Drew, Delia, Gary, Professor Oak... They were the only ones who knew who was being targeted by Team Rocket. If Brock was on their list, he'd never see it coming—and what would happen to all of his siblings?

"We have to warn him," she whispered under her breath.

Misty leaned close to Ash, trying to shout over the wind. "Brock's got a Key Stone, remember? I'm going to call and warn him!"

She felt rather than heard him voice his assent. Sitting upright, but still keeping a tight grip on Ash with one hand, Misty reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone. She clutched it tightly as she tapped on Brock's contact icon with her thumb, then pressed the device to her ear. It rang for a long time, then went to voicemail.

 _He must be asleep_ , Misty thought. Biting her lip, she tried calling him a second time, hoping he'd wake up and answer the call. This was important—too important.

Finally, he picked up.

 _"Hello?"_ came Brock's voice through the phone, and it was clear that he'd just been woken up. _"Misty? Why on earth are you calling me at one o'clock in the morning?"_

"Listen, Brock, this is important," Misty said. "We found out who's being targeted by Team Rocket—well, we think we did—and it's got something to do with Mega Evolution, and you might be in danger, so I had to call and warn you. You have to be careful—they got Gary and Professor Oak, and—"

 _"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down,"_ Brock said. _"What about Team Rocket? And—hold on, what do you mean, they got Gary? Are you okay? Is Ash with you?"_

 _"Yeah—yeah, it's me and Ash and Drew. Listen, it's hard to explain, but—Team Rocket are the ones kidnapping people, okay? And they got Gary, tonight, and Professor Oak, and we're tracking them down and we're going to try to save them."_

 _"You're trying to—what? Misty, where are you?"_

"We're, um—we're on the outskirts of Saffron City. We're headed in the direction of Lavender Town, I think."

 _"Okay... alright. I'm on my way."_

"What?!"

 _"I'm coming, right now. I can't let you do this alone."_

"We aren't alone, there are three of us! Brock, you can't—your siblings! You can't leave them, can you?"

A pause.

"Brock, we'll be fine. I only called to warn you. You have to stay with your family. They need you."

When Brock finally responded, his voice was reluctant. _"You're right. I can't leave them... Listen, Misty, just be careful out there. Watch each other's backs. Don't let Ash do anything too stupid. I don't want you guys to get hurt or—or anything."_

Misty's breath caught at the implication of Brock's unfinished statement. It kind of hit her then, just how dangerous this was.

But it didn't matter that it was dangerous, she told herself. It didn't matter at all. They still had to save their friends.

"We'll be okay, Brock. Promise," Misty said.

Then she hung up.

.

.

.

Misty hung up, and the line went dead. Brock sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his tired eyes.

What was Ash getting himself into this time...?

After a long moment, Brock finally reached over to switch off the video phone. He needed to get back to bed—though he wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep at all considering the call he'd just received. His biggest worry wasn't even the fact that he might be on Team Rocket's hit list—because that was just a possibility, just a "maybe." And whenever there was a maybe, there was always a "maybe not" to go along with it.

Brock had never Mega Evolved his Steelix before. He didn't even have a Steelixite just yet, so while it did make some sense that Misty had called to warn him—and he would be sure to watch his back after this—he still didn't think it was very likely that he was in any real danger. No, Brock's real concern wasn't his own safety.

It was Ash's.

Brock had always thought of Ash as family. As they journeyed together through four different regions, they became very close, and it was only natural for Brock to want to look after and protect him. Call it his "big brother" instincts or whatever.

So, yeah—Brock was potentially in some kind of danger. But Ash was diving headfirst into it, and Brock couldn't be there for him at all.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Nikki, the newest member of the Harrison family, had recently developed an outer ear infection, as if Brock's life wasn't already hectic enough. The day had gone on for too long, and he was exhausted.

Nikki... honestly, just thinking about her made Brock angry. For one thing, his parents had no business having more children when they were already struggling to properly care for the ten kids they already had. And for another, Nikki had been less than a year old when they left again.

Brock had, at first, taken Nikki's birth as a good sign. In the beginning, it seemed that she was going to be what held their family together. And for a little while, she did. But the stress must have been too much for Lola, because she was gone before her youngest daughter even had her first birthday. Flint disappeared soon after. They had their excuses, of course, none of which Brock cared about.

It infuriated him to know that his parents could bring a child into the world only to abandon her. As if they didn't even care.

Brock loved Nikki _so much_. He loved them all, every single one of his siblings.

And the fact that his parents apparently just didn't... that crushed him. And it made his blood boil with rage.

He swiveled around in the desk chair and stood up, preparing to head back to bed—but then he jumped back, startled.

Forrest and Yolanda were staring straight at him.

The three looked at each other in silence for a long time, each waiting for the other to say something. Brock crossed his arms and stared at his younger siblings expectantly. Finally, Forrest spoke up.

"Brock," he said quietly. "You... you don't have to stay, you know."

At this, Brock narrowed his eyes. "How much did you hear?"

"We heard enough," Forrest said. "We know you're staying here to protect us instead of going to help your friends. But we'll be fine here—I mean, it's not like any of us can Mega Evolve our Pokémon! And that girl, Misty, she said that they're only targeting trainers who use Mega Evolution!"

"Um, just to clarify, we heard all of it," Yolanda spoke up nervously.

Brock dropped his head into his hands and sighed. He should have expected something along these lines, because his younger siblings—Forrest in particular—were nothing if not outspoken. But it didn't matter what any of them thought. He needed to be here, keeping them safe.

After a long moment, he finally spoke. "We're not discussing this. I can't leave you all here. Not with Mom and Dad gone. You're only fourteen, Forrest."

"So? You were thirteen the first time they left," he retorted, then flinched at the expression on Brock's face.

"And that experience changed me _forever_ , Forrest!" Brock snapped. "By the time Mom and Dad were gone, I'd already been doing the majority of the caretaking for years—you know that—but suddenly I was completely alone, and that was _scary._ I had nine little kids running around that I had to take care of all by myself, on top of finding a way to manage the gym so I could make a living for us. Mom and Dad cheated me out of my childhood—and I'm _not_ going to let the same thing happen to you!"

He took a deep breath. Forrest and Yolanda were staring back at him, and Yolanda looked ready to cry.

"But they're your friends, Brock," the girl whispered. "And they're in danger, and you love them."

"But you guys are my family, and I love you, too," Brock said, shaking his head.

"But we'll be fine," Forrest insisted. "You're not _leaving_ us—not for good. You're just gonna go help save your friend. And then you'll come back, and everything will be fine." He paused and closed his eyes, as though bracing himself, before he spoke again.

"We're more than just little kids now, Brock."

As if on cue, one of Brock's younger siblings started crying loudly from somewhere in the house. Brock jumped up on instinct. "That's—"

"Nikki," Forrest finished. "She needs some ear drops for her infection."

"I'll take care of it," Yolanda said, and she was gone in a flash.

"You see?" Forrest said. "We're responsible. We can do this just for a couple of days. It's not that big of a deal. I mean, seriously. It's just babysitting. Meanwhile an enormous crime syndicate has just kidnapped one of your friends, and your other friends are rushing headlong into danger in an attempt to save them. _Get perspective_."

At this, Brock had to smile slightly.

When they put it like that...

"Okay," he said finally. "Maybe I'm being a little bit overprotective..."

"Um, you think?" Forrest said.

Brock sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess... well, I guess you two are right. You can probably handle a couple of days without me."

Yolanda walked back into the room with a sniffling Nikki in her arms. Brock reached down and kissed the three-year-old's forehead, then wrapped Yolanda and Forrest in a tight hug.

"I'll go, but you two need to be careful. Remember to call Ash's mom if anything happens, okay? And don't tell anyone where I've gone. I don't want to put you in any unnecessary danger." Brock swallowed. "Just... say I'm off catching Pokémon in Johto or something, and that I'll be back soon. That includes your younger siblings, by the way."

"Got it," Forrest said, and he and Yolanda nodded.

"We promise everything will be fine," she said.

"Alright. Now go back to bed," Brock said. "I'm gonna pack some things real quick and go. I love you guys."

Nikki was already asleep again on Yolanda's shoulder. "I love you, too, Brock," Yolanda whispered.

Forrest smiled.

"Yeah," he said. "We love you, too."

.

.

.

The Black Tulip hadn't felt quite this giddy in awhile.

Domino licked her lips. One more captive to go... then her night would be completely successful. Okay, so the run-in with Oakley had not been planned, and it somewhat annoyed Domino that the little silver-haired girl had gotten in her way. But at least the incident hadn't entirely messed up her night. Everything else was still going precisely according to plan, and Domino fully intended to keep it that way.

The blonde woman smiled as she glanced down from her perch atop her Salamence. It was quite a powerful Pokémon, and a fast flyer, although she hadn't been the one to catch it. She had no idea where it had come from, honestly. Giovanni had given it to her and ordered that she use it from now on, beginning with this mission.

Domino typically preferred using nifty gadgets and her own physical capabilities, rather than battling with Pokémon, but who was she to question the boss? Besides, the thing had been _somewhat_ useful to her. And it certainly provided quite a convenient means of transportation.

Domino sat back and yawned. This particular Salamence was huge enough that she could probably lie down and get some sleep without having to worry too much about rolling off. If she was really tired, she just might—but no, there was far too much anticipation bubbling in her stomach for her to be sleepy.

As it was, she was just bored. It had already been thirty long minutes since they'd left Sycamore's lab with the kid, and it would be at least another hour before they arrived in Snowbelle City. Domino could hardly wait to arrive, and so she was not looking forward to an hour of sitting around and doing nothing. "I should've brought a book," she grumbled under her breath, before sighing and falling onto her back.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky, which gave Domino a perfect view of the stars. At the very least, she'd have a nice view for the next hour.

The minutes ticked by without a sound.

The boy was still out cold, and if the dart had done its job, he should stay that way for at least the next several hours. That Sleep Powder solution was powerful , Domino had tied him to the base of one of Salamence's wings to keep him safe than sorry, she decided, wondering how on earth she would explain it to Giovanni if one of her captives rolled off of Salamence's back in his sleep and died. That would not be a fun conversation.

Perhaps Domino did drift off at one point or another, because the flight didn't seem to last too unbearably long. She sat up when she felt the shift in speed as Salamence slowed and began circling. It let out a low growl as a way of letting her know that they'd arrived. Domino smiled down at Snowbelle City. She could feel the cold through her jacket, soaking into her skin and making her shiver, but she was too jittery to care.

Moments like these always got her excited.

"Okay, Salamence, land as discreetly as possible in that clearing near the gym," she hissed in the Pokémon's ear.

Perhaps it was her excitement that had ended up ruining the attempted capture of her second target. It was true that she hadn't been expecting the girl's ridiculous amount of strength and agility, so that couldn't be helped—but Domino had also been a little too careless, a little too eager to get it done, and the whole thing turned sour when the girl managed to escape.

But soon, that wouldn't matter. Her grunts were tracking the girl at that very moment, working to pinpoint her location, though Domino wouldn't be able to capture her just yet.

Still, after tonight, the Black Tulip would have a total of four successful captures out of the way. As Salamence came in for a landing, Domino pulled her list out of her pocket and ran her gaze over the names. Zoey Williams, Korrina Ortiz, May Maple, Alain Silver...

And the fifth, Wulfric Brimmer, gym leader of Snowbelle City.

Salamence's landing was sharp, jostling Domino and nearly causing her to drop the list. She muttered a curse under her breath and dismounted before recalling the Pokémon. She slipped under the shadowy cover of the trees and made her way to the gym, treading as silently as possible. While she crept toward the gym, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the dart gun.

Soon enough, she was standing before the great double doors of the Snowbelle Gym. Domino checked to ensure that the dart gun was loaded before pulling a tiny, spheric device out of her pocket, twisting the top half, and hurling it at the doors. She took a few steps back and smiled as the device detonated upon contact.

The sound nearly deafened her, and the force of the explosion shook the ground and threw up huge clouds of dust. When the air cleared, the doors and half of the front wall had been completely demolished, leaving nothing but rubble. No alarms went off—not that Domino was surprised. Wulfric didn't seem like the type of guy to bother with alarm systems. Not that it mattered, anyway; the explosion was sure to have woken him up.

Perhaps it would have been smarter to sneak in, but this way was far more thrilling and made success far more satisfying. Besides, she could finish this mission just fine _without_ the element of surprise on her side.

Domino dashed into the building and made her way through quickly and easily. She didn't need to search for Wulfric's bedroom—she already knew precisely where it was, thanks to a little extra preparation beforehand. She'd done her research on this guy. He was huge and unbelievably muscular, so she had a feeling it might take more than one dart to knock him out. Against him and his Pokémon in a fair fight, Domino wouldn't stand a chance, of course—but the blonde Team Rocket agent honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten herself into a fair fight.

She was ready. And although this might be a tougher capture than the others, she still had it in the bag.

Domino passed by the hall that led to the battlefield and sprinted up a flight of stairs. She entered another hallway, dart gun at the ready, counting the doors—if she remembered correctly (and she was certain that she did) then his room should be the second door on the right...

And there he was.

His arms were crossed, and he was wearing his enormous overcoat around his shoulders. Domino smirked and held up the gun. She wasn't going to waste time—he'd probably already taken notice of the Team Rocket insignia emblazoned on her shirt, and she'd prefer to take him out before he could begin to put up a fight.

"What are you doing here?" he said, a threatening edge in his voice, as one of his hands reached back for his Pokéball belt.

"Why, I'm here for _you_ , of course, darling," she responded, twirling her hair with one hand as she waved the gun around casually. "Now don't move a muscle and I won't have to hurt you a bit."

His eyes narrowed, and she saw the way his body moved to the defensive, tensing ever so slightly.

"Now stay just like that... good. I'm really sorry about this, sweetheart," she said as she pulled the trigger. "Oh, wait—no, I'm not."

But he was fast—faster than she'd anticipated. The dart flew out of the gun with a _pop_ , but he was already out of the way and tossing Pokéballs into the air. Domino gritted her teeth. It looked as though she'd have to do this the hard way. The blonde pulled a tiny round gadget out of her pocket, twisting the top half and tossing it to the ground. It worked similarly to the one she'd used to blow in the front entrance, but this one was smaller and didn't actually explode.

Instead, it served as a smoke bomb.

Domino fumbled through her pockets for a few moments before finding what she was looking for: a small mask. She pulled the piece of fabric over her nose and mouth as a dark gray cloud of smoke spread rapidly through the hallway. The mask was nothing fancy, but it would help to filter the air so she didn't find herself in a coughing fit.

"Abomasnow! Use Icy Wind, then Earthquake!" Wulfric's voice boomed from somewhere in the smoke. Domino narrowed her eyes and sent a dart flying into the cloud of smoke, using Wulfric's voice to pinpoint his location. Then the Icy Wind hit.

Domino flinched as the blast of freezing air slammed into her, washing out the smoke and clearing the air in seconds. She shivered, then looked up, and what she saw made her smile. Wulfric was pulling a tiny dart out of his arm. He flicked it away, then looked up and met her eyes.

"Sleep Powder," he said. "Very clever."

He stumbled slightly, and she thought for a moment that he might collapse then and there—but then he righted himself, and she clenched her fists. Apparently it wasn't going to be quite that easy.

Just then, the Abomasnow lifted its enormous feet and slammed them into the ground, and the resulting Earthquake attack made Domino lose her footing. While she was caught off guard, Wulfric called out another attack— _"Use Ice Shard!"_ —that sent her flying backward. She let out a cry as the vicious shards hit her and was thrown to the ground, but she got to her feet as quickly as she could, shaking off the pain.

Just one more dart... yeah, one more would do it. Considering the concentration of Sleep Powder in those things, there was no way anyone—even someone as strong as Wulfric—could withstand two for an extended period of time.

"Icy Wind!" Wulfric yelled again, and in response, Domino lifted the dart gun and just started firing.

At least five of them probably missed, but once the Icy Wind had dissipated, she'd somehow managed to land a second hit. Wulfric yanked the dart out of his stomach and threw it away, but it was too late. The Sleep Powder was already coursing through his body, diffusing into his bloodstream. He gritted his teeth and glared at her as she stepped closer.

"What do you want from me?" he growled, clearly fighting hard against the effects of the dart. In response, she merely laughed. She was the one in control of the situation now, and they both knew it.

Finally, with one last, nasty glare, Wulfric was overtaken by the Sleep Powder's effects. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.

One of the darts had apparently hit the Abomasnow, which was a lucky break. It appeared to be trying to resist the effects, but Domino had only to hit it with a second dart before it was knocked out altogether. The blonde woman grabbed Abomasnow's Pokéball from Wulfric's hand and recalled the unconscious Pokémon.

She smirked.

Easy-peasy.

.

.

.

"This is the end of the trail," Ash said. "It's gone."

He swallowed. His mouth felt dry. The waves crashed over the rocky shores and soaked his feet, but he didn't care.

Umbreon had been able to sniff out and track Gary's scent by following the trail of blood, but it wasn't long before they reached the ocean. Whatever trail Gary had left behind had been swallowed by the waves. There was nothing left to follow anymore. They were stuck.

As he stood and stared out at the water, Ash felt Misty's hand on his shoulder. He turned to meet her eyes.

"This can't be it," he said, his voice tight. "Gary and May and all the others, we have to find them... We were _so close_ , Misty, this can't—it can't end here..."

"It's _not_ going to end here," Drew said, stepping forward. His voice was hard and determined. "We _are_ going to find May. Ash, give me your Pokédex."

Ash frowned at Drew's request, clearly somewhat confused, but he didn't question it. He fumbled through his pockets and found the device, then handed it over.

Drew took the 'dex and pressed a few buttons, and after a few moments, it let out a very familiar chiming sound. He smirked.

"Well," Drew said, "if you want a trail to follow, here you go." He handed the Pokédex back to Ash. The raven-haired boy's brows creased in confusion when he saw a tiny green dot pulsing on the map that was onscreen. Then it dawned on him just what that dot was, and his eyes lit up.

"The Find Your Friends app," he whispered, looking up at Drew and holding his gaze. Then he whirled around. "Misty, look! Gary's right there, on the map—guys, we can still find him! We just have to follow the little green signal!"

"Yeah. We can do this," Misty said with a nod, and Pikachu let out a cheer.

"Then let's go," Drew said, already mounting his Flygon. "We don't have a second to waste. This is no time for celebrating—we haven't rescued anyone yet. We need to keep our focus."

Ash and Misty nodded, and Ash turned toward Charizard and was getting ready to jump on when a shout interrupted them.

 _"Wait!"_

The voice came from far away, and it was accompanied by a low rumbling sound that was slowly getting louder. Ash turned, as did Misty and Drew, and when he saw what it was, his eyes widened.

A huge, metallic Pokémon was coming toward them at an incredible speed. "It's a Steelix," Ash mumbled to himself—and then he processed the fact that he recognized that Steelix, and that he also recognized the voice that had called out to them, and his mouth dropped open as he put two and two together. "No way."

The Steelix came closer still, and it became apparent that there was a person riding atop the Pokémon—a very familiar person, in fact.

"Is that _Brock_?" Misty said in disbelief.

"Yes!" Ash said, pumping his fist in the air. "Yeah, Brock-o! I knew we could count on him!"

"But that can't be him," Misty said, shaking her head. "I called him—to warn him—and he said he couldn't, because of his siblings. He said he couldn't leave them."

At this, Ash paused his cheering. "What do you mean?"

"Ash, this _is_ really dangerous, you know," Misty said impatiently. "I get that you're used to situations like this, but we're dealing with _kidnappers_ here. You _know_ what Team Rocket does to Pokémon, and now they're capturing people, too. You saw the blood in Gary's hospital room, didn't you? And if Brock's parents have left them again—"

"But he said they were just on vacation," Ash cut in, confused.

"And he was _lying_ , Ash!" Misty snapped. "It was written all over his face! That's why he said he couldn't leave his siblings." She turned back toward the approaching Steelix. "My only question is, why is he here now...?"

Ash stared back at Misty, and she was taken aback by the expression on his face. She realized in that instant that she hadn't given him enough credit. Ash was more perceptive than a lot of people initially thought, and from the look in his eyes, it was clear he'd suspected from the beginning that Brock was lying—he just hadn't wanted to believe it.

After all, Ash did always try to see the best in people, naive as it was.

The raven-haired boy swallowed tightly, then looked back in Brock's direction, that unplaceable expression still on his face—somewhere in between dread and disappointment.

"So who is this Brock person, anyway?" Drew said, crossing his arms.

"A friend," Misty said. "We used to travel with him."

"You've met him before," Ash pointed out.

"Tall, brown hair, Rock-type specialist, always wearing a ridiculously oversized backpack..." Misty said. "Ring any bells?"

"Not a one," Drew deadpanned. "And we're wasting time, you know."

The Steelix came closer still, and then suddenly dust was flying in their faces as it came to a halt just a few feet in front of them.

"Hey, guys," Brock said, jumping down from his mount with ease. "Mind if I join you?"

.

.

.

"May, get up. Someone's coming."

May sat up quickly, though slightly awkwardly due to the cuffs binding her hands together. There was really no need for Zoey to wake her—she was already awake. Truthfully, she had hardly slept at all since she'd been thrown in here. Whenever she did manage to drift off, it was short and fitful, not to mention uncomfortable, and it was light enough that even the slightest sound woke her easily. The ground was too hard, the darkness was too deep, and the pit of bubbling fear in May's stomach was too potent for her to really sleep.

But the two girls had no idea where they were or why they were here, and they were desperate for any kind of information, not to mention any chance to make an escape. So they had made an agreement to wake each other up if something—anything—happened.

And something was happening now.

The place was silent enough that May and Zoey had assumed that they must be the only captives here... wherever "here" was. May guessed that they were in some kind of base, and Zoey figured from the earthen walls that they were underground.

"Tightly packed earth muffles sound," she had muttered, and what she said next made May feel suddenly very cold. "No one can hear us scream down here."

Now, that same cold feeling returned as the unmistakable sound of footsteps drew ever nearer. She shifted closer to Zoey.

When the lights came on in the hallway, May expected to see the curly-haired woman who had captured her, Domino, but instead she found herself staring at a very different face.

The man facing them was ghostly pale, with bright lemon-yellow hair. Well, mostly yellow. He had a single, ridiculously long lock of blue hair that was gelled up to encircle his face, almost like a halo. That, compared with the frightening look on his face, was enough to make him appear crazy.

"Well, well, well," he said, his voice silky smooth. "It seems we have only two. What a pity... I certainly hope we have a few more by the time I'm finished with these two." He chuckled, and May gripped Zoey's arm. "Well? Can the two of you keep me entertained for a little while?"

He reached down with white gloved hands to brush off his lab coat. "It's rather dirty down here for my tastes. One of you grunts, open the door. Take one of them—I don't care which. Oh, I can't wait to get on with this!"

"Sir!" The two grunts accompanying him nodded rigidly and moved to follow his instructions. They were about to unlock the door when a fourth man spoke up, interrupting them.

"Ah, Colress?"

The blonde man turned, frowning. "Yes?"

"I believe you may be forgetting something." The man speaking had bright turquoise hair and a glint in his eye that made May want to stay far away from him.

"And what is that, Proton?" Colress questioned, clearly irritated.

"Careful how you speak to your superiors. You may be our lead researcher, but I'm an Executive, don't forget," Proton tutted. He pulled two things from his belt. One was a Pokéball, the other a long, metal rod with the symbol of Team Rocket on the end of it. "It seems you've neglected to remember that these two belong to us now, and we must mark them accordingly." He twirled the metal rod around in his hand, smiling.

May's breath caught, and her heart began to pound as she realized what Proton was holding. Her hold on Zoey's arm tightened.

"It's a branding iron," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Z-Zoey... that's..."

"Why, it certainly is, dear," Proton said loudly, his smile widening as he made eye contact with May for a moment. "Now, now, don't worry about getting your hands dirty, Colress. I'll gladly take care of it for you. They don't call me the cruelest member of Team Rocket for nothing, after all. Go on—open the door."

May tried to back away, but there was nowhere for her to go, and the cuffs on her wrists and ankles prevented her from getting very far. One of the grunts opened the door, and Proton stepped inside. He opened his Pokéball, releasing a Ninetales and May had the brief thought that it was beautifully groomed and would look amazing in a contest. Her thoughts were brought to a screeching halt when Proton grabbed her roughly by the shirt.

"May!" Zoey cried, but she was knocked away by the Ninetales.

"Be a dear and use Flamethrower, Ninetales," Proton said, holding out the iron. The Pokémon obliged, and when the flames died out, the metal was red-hot. "Now, this might hurt a little."

He pressed the end of the iron to the back of May's neck, and she _screamed_.

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 **No promises this time. I'm bad at those. But you WILL see the next chapter eventually... oh, and check my profile for updates on the updates, if you're dying to know when the next one should be out.**

 **Bye for now, loves!**

 **(p.s. i love reviews ok bye)**


	7. Misconceptions

**Hoooo boy. Be prepared for a serious roller coaster ride, kiddies! And I mean it. From here on out, each chapter's just going to be more intense than the last... h** **ehehe. I'm excited.**

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 **Chapter Seven**

 **Misconceptions**

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"Brock!"

Ash ran forward and slammed into Brock with a hug, causing the older boy to stumble back slightly in surprise. "Hey, Ash," he said, hugging him back.

Ash pulled away, and Brock stood up straight. "All right," Brock said. "So Team Rocket is behind all of the attacks, and we're chasing down the ones who took Gary, correct?"

"Right," Ash said, holding up his Pokédex. "See that little green signal? That's him."

"Alright," Brock said, pulling out a Pokéball. "Looks like they're headed towards Sinnoh."

"Then let's go," Drew said, and with that, his Flygon took off over the water.

"C'mon, Misty," Ash said, jumping up onto Charizard's back, and she followed, climbing on and putting her arms around his waist.

But before they took to the air, Misty turned to Brock, clearly confused. "But Brock," she said, "what about your family?"

He smiled slightly. "They're very... ah... stubborn kids. Forrest convinced me they'd be fine for a couple of days. I believe the way he put it was... 'It's just babysitting. Get perspective.'"

Misty couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Alright, well, we've saved the whole world before, haven't we?" the redhead said with a shrug.

"Sure. This is gonna be a piece of cake," Brock said, calling out his Crobat and returning his Steelix to its ball. "I suppose Drew put it best—let's go."

Ash nodded, and Misty thought she saw a flash of apprehension on Brock's face—but then it was gone, and he mounted his Crobat with a determined smile. With a shared nod, they took off into the night, abandoning the rocky shore behind them as Ash stared at the glowing Pokédex screen.

"Alright, Charizard," he said, "we're heading in the right direction. Just keep flying! We've got a long way to go, so I'm counting on you!"

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu leaped from Ash's shoulder and settled himself on Charizard's head as they began to speed up, catching up to Drew.

Misty stared down at the water below. So they were headed for Sinnoh... hm. Maybe it would have been smart to bring a sweater. Her mind drifted, and she wondered where on earth the Rockets could be taking Gary. Was it Annie and Oakley who had come for him again? Were they bringing him to some kind of base?

And the question that was eating away at her the most-

 _Why?_

Their theory, so far, had proven to be accurate, but if Team Rocket really was targeting trainers who used Mega Evolution, the only remaining question was why? Why did they need Gary and the other trainers? What were they planning to do with them? Did they have some kind of bigger plan?

Misty recalled meeting the boss of Team Rocket, long ago on Mt. Quena. His name was Giovanni, if she recalled correctly...

What kind of plan could have been formed in that cruel, crooked mind of his? And what did Mega Evolution have to do with it...?

It didn't help that there was so much that was unknown about Mega Evolution. The entire subject was shrouded in mystery. She remembered watching Ash's battles in the Kalos League, and the way his Greninja had changed its form in a way that was much like Mega Evolution. He'd called it "Bond Phenomenon," she remembered. Would that make him a target, too?

As Misty's mind whirred at a mile a minute, the four trainers flew on in silence. The sound of the wind wasn't quite as loud in Misty's ears, leading her to believe that they weren't flying quite as fast as they had been on their way to the hospital—they did have an entire ocean to cross, after all, and their Pokémon would surely become tired—but it was hard to tell, considering that for as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but the ocean and the sky.

She forced herself to stay awake. She had to—Ash and the others, as well as their Pokémon, needed to stay alert as they flew, and so would she.

Misty checked the time on her phone—it was just past one o'clock in the morning. She tucked it back into her pocket, then looked again after what felt like at least half an hour.

Only ten minutes had passed.

Misty sighed heavily and put the phone back away, willing herself not to check again.

It was going to be a long night.

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"Zoey, no!"

Someone grabbed Zoey roughly, though she was too dazed with pain to see who. The back of her neck burned, a reminder of the branding iron that had burned into her flesh just moments before. She heard the _clink_ of metal as the cuffs on her ankles were removed, and she was forced to her feet and shoved forward. Blinking away the black spots in her vision, Zoey stumbled out of the cell, and the door was slammed shut.

 _"Zoey!_ Leave her alone, you jerks!"

Zoey looked over her shoulder. May's hands gripped the bars of the cell door as she hurled insults at the guards. Zoey almost managed a smile at that. She had to admit, that girl had spunk.

A kick to the back of her knees sent Zoey sprawling forward. "Move it, girlie," someone snapped. She recognized the voice as Proton's. Zoey scrambled to her feet and began walking forward. Her eyes darted around in search of an escape route, but Proton's ironlike grip on her upper arm dashed her hopes of fleeing. She'd have to catch him off-guard if she was going to have any chance of getting away...

"Zoey!"

Zoey glanced back at May as she walked and tried for a smile. "I'll be fine, May," she called. "Don't worry about—ow!" Proton's grip on her arm tightened, and Zoey winced.

"Shut up and keep walking," the Rocket said, and she complied, hoping not to anger him any more than she already had.

They walked down the hallway for awhile, making several turns along the way, which she tried to memorize. Right, left, left, right, left...

Eventually they arrived at a big set of double doors. A plaque beside the doors read "OBSERVATION DECK" in small black letters. Colress and the two grunts stepped inside.

"Please take her to the laboratory area," Colress said. "I'll give you the signal when I'm ready. All right by you?"

"Of course," Proton said, giving Zoey another shove to get her moving. They walked a little further, descended a flight of stairs, then turned right before encountering a second set of doors. Proton opened one door and threw Zoey to the ground. She pushed herself back up into a sitting position and took in her new surroundings as the door fell shut behind her.

The room she was in was lit by bright fluorescent lighting. The walls appeared to be made of some kind of smooth metal, while the floor was concrete, just like the floor back in the cell. One half of the room was separated from the other by a thick glass wall. The top half of the room had windows instead of walls, and Zoey could see people through them—all of whom were staring directly at her. That must be the observation deck, she realized.

It was like some kind of show... no, not a show. Zoey swallowed as she took in the lab coats each person wore and the expensive-looking equipment on the observation deck.

This wasn't a show, but an experiment—and apparently Zoey was going to be the test subject.

She tried to steady her trembling hands. She didn't think she'd ever been this terrified in her life.

One half of the room was separated from the other by a thick glass wall. Zoey watched as a door opened on the other side and a motionless Pokémon was thrown in. Zoey gasped when she realized who it was.

Her Gallade.

"Gallade!" she cried, struggling to her feet and running forward to press her hands against the glass. "Gallade!"

But her Pokémon didn't move. "Gallade!" Zoey yelled, pounding against the glass. Shaking with rage, she whirled around to face Proton. "What did you _do_ to him?"

"Oh, it's just paralyzed," Proton said flippantly. "According to our research, paralysis has no effect on Mega Evolution, so everything should still go as planned."

 _Mega Evolution...? What's he talking about?_

"Anyway, calm down, little girl—it's just a Pokémon."

And she snapped.

Blood boiling, Zoey _ran_ at Proton, ready to tackle him to the ground or—or something. But she didn't get that far. A sharp, fierce pain lanced across her body and stopped her in her tracks. Skin stinging, Zoey staggered backwards. In Proton's hand was a whip.

"Ah-ah-ah, I don't think so," Proton said, waggling his index finger at her. "You need to understand the position you're in, dear." Another sharp crack of the whip served to emphasize this statement, and Zoey cried out as it sliced through her clothes and into her skin.

A muffled roar from behind her made Zoey turn. On the other side of the glass, Gallade was pushing himself up off the ground and calling out to her. The effects of the paralysis had not completely worn off, however, and he quickly collapsed again.

"Gallade," Zoey gasped.

"Now," Proton said, and she turned back to him, gritting her teeth. "What you're going to do is simple: Mega Evolve your Gallade."

Zoey narrowed her eyes. She didn't know what Team Rocket's goal was, but there was no way she was going to help them to achieve it. "No way," she retorted. "I'm not helping you."

"I don't think you fully understand," Proton said coolly. He struck her with the whip again. "That was not a request."

Zoey let out another gasp. The strike left her numb at first, then grew into a burning sensation, and as he hit her again, the searing pain only became more intense. She dropped to her hands and knees, her body shuddering involuntarily.

"I-I won't," she choked out, digging her nails into her palms as the whip came down again.

"You _will_ ," Proton said. "I'm prepared to do this all night if that's what it takes." He whipped her again, and again, and Zoey shut her eyes tightly and bit back her cries of pain.

She heard her Gallade's voice calling out to her, roaring with fury. Her eyes stung with tears as her skin burned.

"I—I'm fine, Gallade," she said, trying to sound strong. "D-don't— _ah!"_

Another strike of the whip caused her to shudder again. Her breathing was becoming shallower.

"All you have to do is comply," Proton said, lashing her again, "and the pain will be over. Just like that."

 _"No!"_ she spat heatedly, resulting in a snarl from Proton as he brought the whip down upon her again.

Zoey was determined not to fall to Team Rocket's demands, but she the idea of doing this all night long was a frightening prospect. How long would she really be able to resist them before she cracked?

Zoey didn't need to find out, because just then, the bracelet on her wrist began to pulse with energy. The tears in her eyes spilled onto her cheeks as Zoey looked up at her Gallade, who was now radiating a brilliant light. She looked down at the bracelet again. Set in the piece of jewelry was a multicolored Key Stone, which was glowing steadily brighter and brighter.

He was Mega Evolving for her.

"Gallade, no..." she whispered.

"Ah, perfect," Proton said. "A little more compliance from the start might have been better... though I can't say I didn't enjoy myself. I suppose my work here is finished."

Zoey tried to get to her feet, but everything hurt too much. Her muscles were cramping all over, and she collapsed again. Proton left the room, and she heard the unmistakable _click_ of the doors locking behind him.

The light emanating from Gallade was bright enough that she couldn't look directly at it. The scientists on the observation deck were going absolutely crazy, and Zoey's heart sank.

She'd given them exactly what they wanted.

When the light faded, there stood Gallade in all his Mega Evolved glory, though still barely able to move due to the paralysis. Zoey wiped the tears from her face and crawled, with some difficulty, over to the glass barrier dividing them. Zoey pressed her forehead against the glass. "Gallade... I would have been fine. Why...?"

Gallade choked out a sound that was halfway between a roar and a sob, and Zoey closed her eyes.

He hadn't wanted them to hurt her.

"Gallade..."

Zoey wasn't sure how long she was there for, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She stayed just like that, unable to hold in her tears, wishing more than anything that she could be safe at home, all of her Pokémon beside her, nothing more to worry about than the next contest season.

She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there before the doors swung open behind her and she was dragged out of the lab. She was yanked to her feet and forced to walk back through the halls to her cell, but she couldn't bring her mind to focus on which directions they walked in. She stumbled and fell several times, and every step seemed to hurt more than the last. Her skin felt as though it was splitting apart in the places where she had been lashed, and her muscles were cramping painfully all over.

When they finally reached the cell and shoved her in, Zoey collapsed immediately.

"Zoey!"

The redhead heard May's voice calling out to her, and the corners of her lips twitched upward despite the situation. "H-hey, May," she said, coughing and rolling over onto her back. She didn't bother trying to push herself into a sitting position, as she wasn't sure she had the energy to support herself. "So, uh... that sucked."

In the dim lighting that filtered in from outside, she saw tears glittering in May's eyes as the brunette lifted her hands to her mouth. "Oh, Zoey," she said in horror, her voice soft. Zoey felt gentle hands reaching out to touch her, though May carefully avoided the angry red marks left on her skin by the whip.

"Don't worry about me, May. I'm tough as nails, see?" Zoey grinned. "I just need a little rest, is all..."

She knew May would want her to explain what happened, and considering their agreement, Zoey knew she _should_ tell her, but she didn't feel ready to talk about it yet. She was grateful when May didn't push her for information.

More tears threatened to spill when she thought of her Gallade, as well as the other Pokémon she'd had on her when she was captured. She had to trust that they were going to be okay. If she allowed herself to imagine the awful things that could be happening to them, she'd really lose it.

"We'll escape somehow," Zoey muttered as the hall lights shut off, leaving the two girls in utter darkness. "I swear. We're gonna get out of here." Maybe she was talking to May, or maybe she was just trying to reassure herself. Zoey didn't honestly know.

"Yeah," May said, her hand finding Zoey's and squeezing it—and this time Zoey understood. May was both reassuring herself _and_ trying to comfort Zoey.

For the first time, the redhead realized how lucky she was to not be alone.

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They flew on for hours and hours, and soon enough their Pokémon were utterly exhausted.

They were three-quarters of the way to Sinnoh, and it was about 4:30 in the morning. Ash's Charizard tried to appear as though he wasn't tired, but it was clear that they all needed a rest.

"I know you could keep going, Charizard, but I don't want you to push yourself like that. You need to rest," Ash said, though one glance made it clear that the raven-haired trainer was also in desperate need of sleep. He could barely keep his eyes open.

"We'll stop as soon as we can," Drew said. "We should be able to spot a place pretty quickly—this ocean's got tons of little islands all over the place, and the route from Olivine to Sandgem—which is about the direction we're traveling—always has tons of ferries going back and forth. We've passed at least three in the past couple of hours."

"Right," Brock said. "Let's keep an eye out."

Sure enough, within about ten minutes, a small white shape came into view over the horizon. As they came closer, it became apparent that it was a ship—and once they were close enough to begin circling overhead, Drew was able to make out enough details to determine that it didn't carry passengers. It was a cargo ship.

Drew turned and nodded to Ash, Misty, and Brock, and his Flygon began the descent downwards. They stayed as silent as possible, and came in for a discreet landing on the deck of the huge ship. It was dark out—the sun hadn't yet begun to rise—and they had landed near the back of the ship, trying to decrease their chances of being seen.

Drew placed his hand on his Flygon's forehead, thanking her with a gentle touch before returning her to her Pokéball. Once they had landed, the others quietly thanked their Pokémon and recalled them without hesitation.

Glancing around and taking stock of the situation, Drew's mind worked furiously as he tried to figure out what exactly needed to happen. They needed a place to sleep, for one thing—a sheltered, well-hidden place, preferably. His eyes lit upon a small trapdoor hiding in the shadows, and he crept over to it, beckoning the other three trainers to follow.

Drew pulled open the trapdoor, revealing a ladder that descended into darkness. Without faltering for a moment, Drew grabbed the top rung of the ladder and began lowering himself into the opening. Ash followed with Pikachu on his head, Misty followed, and Brock climbed down last.

Drew's feet hit solid ground, and he heard Ash murmur something under his breath. Seconds later, Pikachu's cheeks began to spark, lighting up the space around them.

This was clearly the area where the cargo was stored. They were surrounded by boxes and crates. Hesitantly, the coordinator stepped forward, trying to remain as quiet as possible. They prowled cautiously through the storage space, the peculiar shadows cast by Pikachu's electricity making Drew nervous. He imagined May beside him, jumping and squealing when one shadow moved in a strange way—and then probably getting flustered and insisting that she _wasn't_ scared before creeping forward to investigate said shadow.

They reached the far back corner of the storage chamber, and Drew motioned for the others to follow as he squeezed into a small gap behind a wall of crates.

"Okay, listen up," he said, his voice a harsh whisper. "We'll need someone to take watch and keep an eye on the Pokédex. Who's willing to take the first shift?"

Ash and Brock both raised their hands, but Misty shook her head at them. "You guys need to get some sleep. You're the ones who had to fly here. I just rode along. So I'll take first watch," she said.

Drew nodded, and Ash handed Misty the device. She took it, the glow illuminating her face.

"Try to make yourselves comfortable," Drew said with a shrug. "We'll probably only get in a couple hours of sleep, but it's better than nothing—especially considering what we've got ahead of us tomorrow."

With that, he laid down, using his arms as a makeshift pillow. The silence that overtook them was tense and uncertain. With a quiet word from his trainer, Pikachu allowed his cheeks to stop sparking, and darkness enveloped the four trainers.

Drew heard the others shifting around and trying to get comfortable. He hoped upon hoped that they wouldn't be found in the night by some crew member—if they were, they were going to be in big trouble.

The coordinator let his eyes fall shut.

 _Just hold on a little longer. We're coming, May._

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Gary awoke to pain.

He let out a cry as he was thrown against something hard, the lingering paralysis preventing him from doing more than that. He couldn't move, but at least he had regained control over his vocal cords. Somewhat.

He slumped to the ground before he was picked up and thrown again, his body slamming against what felt like a huge tree. His heavily bruised ribs screamed in agony, and he cried out again.

"I caught your dirty trick, you little brat," barked a nasty voice. "Did you really think you could get something like that by me so easily?"

Gary opened his eyes to see that he was in a forest clearing coated in a thin blanket of snow. Annie was standing before him, dangling a small red device in front of his face.

His Pokédex...

"I know your little friends were using this to track you, but not anymore," the blonde said in a vicious tone. She dropped the Pokédex onto the snow-covered ground and smashed it under one of her pointed heels.

 _Track me...?_

Gary's eyes widened when he realized what she was talking about. _The Find Your Friends app!_ So Ash had come looking after all... He would have been relieved if not for the fact that Ash's only means of finding him was now lying smashed in the snow.

So much for his hope of rescue.

 _No. I have to trust him_ , Gary fiercely admonished himself. _Come on, this is Ash we're talking about. He'll find a way._

Then claws connected with his head, and Gary sucked in a _hiss_ of pain.

"Just give it up. Sure, maybe your trick worked for a little bit, but it's not like that means anything. They're _never_ going to find you," Annie said, clearly furious over the Pokédex. There was a malicious glint in her eyes as she continued, "Not until we're finished with you, that is... I can't wait to see the look on that black-haired brat's face when we hand over your body."

The words sent a chill down Gary's spine.

"Use Scratch again," Annie snapped, and once again, her Raticate dug its claws into Gary's forehead and slashed through his skin. Gary forced himself not to cry out in pain as blood dripped down from his forehead into his eyes.

"Again," she demanded, but when the Pokémon's claws cut through his skin again, Gary still refused to make a sound. She let out a noise of frustration, and Gary realized that she was taking her anger out on him. Maybe, just maybe, if he submitted and gave her what she wanted, she'd be satisfied and let up...

No.

With a significant amount of effort, he lifted his chin and looked Annie directly in the eye, shooting her a vehement glare despite the blood blurring his vision.

His whole body hurt from being thrown up against the tree, and the stinging pain in his head was enough to make him dizzy, but he wasn't about to back down. He wouldn't let the Team Rocket agent think that she'd beaten him. He could take this.

"You little _wretch_." Orange eyes blazing, Annie ordered her Dragonite to throw him against the tree again, and Gary could only shut his eyes tightly and deal with the pain.

 _You'd better hurry up, Ashy-boy_ , he thought, grunting as he was hurled up against the tree. _Because I don't know how long I can keep this up._

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He opened his eyes, and there was nothing but darkness.

Startled, the boy scrambled to his feet frantically, realizing very quickly that this was not his home and something was very wrong. Where was he? What on earth was going on?

"H-hello?" he called into the darkness, but he received nothing but echoes in response. Both the fear and the cold were beginning to make him shiver.

 _Get a grip_ , the boy muttered to himself, shaking his head. _Analyze the situation. Figure out everything you can..._

Why had he woken up here? He was sure he had gone to bed in his room at Professor Sycamore's lab...

And then it all came crashing back, and Alain remembered everything.

The first thing he did was grab for his Pokéballs—and that sent a new wave of panic over him when he came to the realization that they weren't there. His belt was completely empty, which could mean only one thing: when the Rockets had captured him, they'd stripped him of his Pokémon. Where were they now? Were they somewhere near here—wherever "here" was? He _needed_ to get to them.

And Mairin—oh Arceus, what had happened to Mairin? There was no way she could have beaten those Rocket agents. Had she been captured too? She was probably alone... probably terrified. The thought killed him.

He hadn't been able to protect himself—but more importantly, he hadn't been able to protect Mairin or his Pokémon.

Alain clenched his fists. He had to get out of here.

After feeling his way around the cell, Alain was able to work out about how big it was. He had enough space to lie down, but only barely. He could reach up and touch the ceiling with ease, and he quickly deduced that it was composed of tightly packed earth, floor was made of cement.

One wall was not a cement wall like the others, but a row of metal bars. Alain stretched his arms through the gaps between the bars, feeling for something—anything at all—that would clue him in to where he was and how to escape. He found nothing.

Running his hands along all the bars, Alain finally stumbled across something that made him grin. Hinges.

If he could find a way to dismantle them, or maybe even smash them...

Alain patted himself up and down, searching for some kind of tool that would help him to take the hinges apart, but he came up empty. Muttering a curse under his breath, Alain set to searching the floor of the cell—though he didn't expect to find anything just lying around. What he'd seen of Team Rocket in the past had given him the impression that they were all just a bunch of bumbling idiots, but it was very clear that the ones who had kidnapped him were not only far smarter than he'd thought, but also much more dangerous.

Alain's eyes widened when his hands landed on the perfect weapon: a small rock. It was tiny and unnoticeable—no longer than his pinky finger—but if he used enough force in just the right place, he just might be able to smash his way out of the cell. He scrambled back over to the door and ran his hands over the hinges, searching for the exact spot to hit.

Then Alain lifted the rock over his head and brought it down, striking the metal with a sharp _clang_.

To his dismay, the rock didn't even leave a scratch.

Gritting his teeth, Alain held up the rock and struck the hinge again, and again, and again. After awhile, it finally began to scuff the metal's surface, and Alain realized that doing enough damage to actually break the hinge was seriously going to take awhile—and getting the door open was going to take even longer, considering that the door had four hinges.

Well, if he was trapped here, it wasn't like he had anything better to do with his time.

Alain kept at it, beating the metal hinge over and over for who knows how long. It must have been hours. His arms started to ache, and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

He forced himself to keep going, despite how much it was beginning to hurt, growing accustomed to the steady _clang, clang_ of rock on metal. He had managed to create a pretty solid dent in the first hinge when the lights came on.

Alain gasped in surprise, dropping the rock in favor of covering his face. The lights weren't all that bright—on the contrary, they were very dim—but his eyes had grown used to the darkness, and the light hurt. He hesitantly pulled his hands away, blinking as his eyes began to adjust.

Then he looked up, anticipation filling him as he realized that _he could see_.

He tried to take in and store as much information as he could about his surroundings. Gripping the bars tightly, he peered out into a hallway filled with cells much like his own. He couldn't tell if there were people in the other cells, but he guessed—he _hoped_ —that if Mairin was anywhere in this horrible place, she was in the same hallway he was. That way, when he made his escape, he'd be able to get her out as well without too much extra trouble.

But then again, it didn't really matter where she was. If she was here, he'd get her out no matter what, even if it cost him his life.

Maybe if he were someone else, the thought of giving up his life would send a shiver down his spine. But Alain wasn't someone else. and to be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure he'd care all that much if he died.

 _Especially_ not if it kept Mairin safe.

The sound of footsteps broke through his thoughts, and Alain's gaze snapped over to the approaching silhouette. Glancing down at the small rock at his feet, he swiftly kicked it to the back of the cell, hoping it wouldn't be noticed.

The figure came closer, and Alain's eyes narrowed as he took in the details of the woman's appearance.

She was tall and slim, with wide hips and honey-blonde hair tied up in two coils, one on each side of her head. She was holding the limp form of a person under one arm—a boy with spiky brown hair. The boy looked to be about Alain's age, maybe a couple of years younger. Alain was alarmed to see that a part of his hair was matted with blood.

Behind the woman walked a huge Dragonite. In the Pokémon's arms were two more people, both of whom were wearing white lab coats, leading him to assume that they were researchers. The Dragonite stopped in front of Alain's cell, and the trainer's eyes widened as he caught sight of the face of one of the captives.

It was Professor Samuel Oak of the Kanto region.

There was a creak as the cell door across from Alain's was opened, and the Dragonite dumped Professor Oak and the other researcher inside. Alain clutched the metal bars tightly and watched as the blonde woman threw the younger boy inside the cell, resulting in a low groan of pain.

Alain sucked in a sharp breath, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the bars.

The blonde woman turned, yawning, to the Dragonite. "Did you hear that odd noise when we walked down here? It's gone now, but I'm a little curious..."

Alain swallowed. She was talking about the racket that he'd been making in his attempt to damage the hinge. His heart jumped in his chest when she turned, her bright orange eyes meeting his icy blue stare. There was something terribly familiar about those eyes...

"Why, hello there," the woman purred. "Looks like you're Domino's catch of the night. Professor Sycamore's little assistant, right? You and that little girl..."

At that comment, rage bubbled up in Alain's chest. "Where is Mairin?" he said furiously. She giggled, and he snarled, " _Tell me where she is!"_

"Mairin? So that's her name, is it? Aw, someone's getting all protective. How cute." The agent's orange eyes flashed with amusement, and that was when Alain figured it out. Suddenly he understood what was so familiar about her eyes: they were the exact same eyes as those of the silver-haired woman who had captured Professor Sycamore.

"Tell me where Mairin is!" Alain demanded again, his voice rising. "What did you do with her?"

In response, the agent just laughed, and he took a swing at her through the bars, which she avoided easily.

"Feisty, aren't we? To be honest, I don't know where she is," she said, though Alain had every reason to doubt that she was, as she said, being honest. "As far as I know, she wasn't on Domino's list, and Domino usually just sticks to orders. She probably left the kid alone. Now, my sister Oakley, on the other hand..." She laughed again. "We both love that little thrill we sometimes get from inflicting pain. Oakley especially. She was only supposed to nab the professor, but if she ran into the little girl... well, who knows?"

The implications of that statement made Alain's blood run cold. "If you so much as touch a hair on her head, I'll _destroy_ you," he hissed.

"Good luck with that," the woman said with a devilish smile, then shook her head and giggled to herself. "Oh, look at me. Fraternizing with the captives... the boss would certainly disapprove. Oh, well..."

With that, she recalled her Dragonite and stalked off, leaving Alain not only furious, but terrified out of his mind.

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.

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"Gary!"

The spiky-haired boy groaned as he struggled to push himself up off of the ground. His limbs were shaking with the effort. The paralysis had almost completely worn off at this point, so he was able to move, but it still took a lot more energy than usual—and after being thrown up against a tree multiple times, his whole body hurt like hell. Especially considering that he hadn't exactly been in the best shape _before_ Annie beat him up, either.

"Gary, are you alright?"

Gary instantly recognized Professor Oak's voice. "Grandpa," was all he could manage to say as he looked up to meet his grandfather's eyes. The older researcher was sitting up against the back wall of the cell, and he looked terribly anxious.

Though Professor Rowan was still lying unconscious a few feet away, it appeared that Gary's grandfather had overcome most of the effects of the Stun Spore. He leaned forward, reaching out to his grandson, and Gary crawled forward with difficulty before allowing himself to collapse beside the professor. He felt tender hands running through his sticky, matted hair and flinched when Professor Oak's fingers brushed against one of the many gashes that Raticate's claws had left in his head.

"You're bleeding," Professor Oak said, his tone betraying his alarm.

"Ah, yeah... a little." Gary tried to sound nonchalant, as though it wasn't much.

"Gary. What happened?" the professor asked, his stony voice demanding an answer.

Gary would have shrugged if he was able to move without hurting himself. As it was, any kind of movement only added to his pain. "Well... I had my Pokédex on me when they captured us. You remember that little app you installed, right? The Find Your Friends thing?"

"Yes." His tone was hesitant, as though he suspected where this was going and didn't want to find out.

"Well, Ashy-boy was using it to track me, apparently, and that Annie woman found out. And she... she wasn't happy. She came after me with her Raticate. I couldn't move, so I just took it until she got bored." Bitterly remembering the way she had taken her anger out on him by literally using him as a punching bag, he added, "Oh, yeah, and she had her Dragonite fling me up against a tree a couple of times. All while telling me how she couldn't wait to show Ash my dead body."

He regretted the words the instant they left his lips. He felt his grandfather stiffen, and Gary imagined he was horrified.

"B-but I'm fine!" he said quickly, trying to amend. "I mean, it's just a couple of scratches and bruises. No big deal." Trying to prove it, he forced himself up into a sitting position, then gasped at the pain and nearly collapsed again. Professor Oak caught him and laid him down gently, allowing Gary's head to rest in his lap. "I-I'm sure she was just... bluffing about the whole... d-dead body thing." Gary coughed and gasped again, and then silence fell before his grandfather spoke again.

"They'll have to kill me first," he said quietly.

"H-huh?" Gary blinked.

"Before they ever lay a hand on you again," the professor said, his voice deadly cold, "they'll have to kill me."

Gary swallowed thickly as the professor clutched his hand. His chest—well, his entire body, but his chest most particularly—was still throbbing.

 _Please, Arceus_ , he thought.

 _Don't let it come to that_.

.

.

.

The morning was cold and quiet.

The cold was in no way out of the ordinary—it was only midway through March, and the freezing weather that February had brought with it still lingered in the air.

But the quiet was unnatural.

Delia Ketchum didn't recognize the silence for what it was at first, and she yawned as she pulled herself out of bed, stretching. She was accustomed to rising early, usually just after the sun, though it was evident that Ash was the opposite of an early bird. He certainly loved his beauty sleep, that was for sure.

Delia began the usual morning routine without much fuss. She showered, donned her clothes, and fixed up her hair in the same was she normally did, and then she stepped out of her room and headed to the kitchen to begin preparing breakfast. She almost stepped into the living room to turn on the news, then decided against it. If there was bad news, she didn't want to have it on for everyone to see this early in the morning.

One thing that Delia was did every single morning when Ash was home was to cook pancakes for breakfast. It was fairly basic, and she figured he'd get tired of them eventually, but whenever she made anything different, he always complained that he would rather have her homemade pancakes.

"Let's see," she murmured to herself as she began getting out the ingredients for the batter. "Chocolate chip or blueberry?"

She sensed something odd in the air, as though there was something wrong, but she couldn't pin down why she was feeling that way. Shaking it off, Delia began making pancakes, mixing the batter and pouring it onto the griddle. The batter sizzled as it hit the griddle, and the delicious aroma permeated the air.

As she flipped the pancakes, Delia began to wonder where Ash was—sure, he tended to be a late sleeper, but the smell of food was usually all it took to get him up and out of bed. Maybe he was just extra tired... She knew that everything that was happening—first the disappearance of one of his best friends, and then the discovery that they were being kidnapped by a huge crime organization, not to mention his fight with Misty—was certainly taking a toll on him emotionally.

Several minutes later, when all the pancakes had been flipped and finished cooking, Delia transferred them to a plate and carried them to the table in the living room. As she walked down the hall, she called, "Hey, Ash? Breakfast is ready, honey!"

She received no response.

Abruptly the feeling that something was wrong became even more intense. The house was never this quiet when Ash was home... A sudden fear gripped her, and Delia hurried to the living room and moved to set the plate down-

And what she saw nearly made her heart stop.

The huge window in the living room had been completely shattered, and there was a thin blackish-purple residue left on the hardwood floor. The eerie, unnatural silence suddenly became terrifying. The plate of pancakes went crashing to the ground.

 _"Ash!"_

Delia sprinted down the hallway and into her son's room, only to find his bed empty. A sob escaped her throat, and she ran to check the other rooms. Misty and Drew were nowhere to be found.

"No, no, _no_..."

Delia ran through the house again, searching, but it was no use. The house was empty. She knew without a doubt what must have happened, but still she checked Ash's room once more, reluctant to believe it, unwilling to accept that her only child had been taken right from under her in the night. Finally, with shaking fingers, Delia pulled out her phone and dialed 911, the palm of one hand pressed to her mouth. Tears were beginning to spill over onto her cheeks.

"P-please," she said when the operated asked her what her emergency was. "Please, it's my son... I think he's been kidnapped."

.

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 **Aaaaand on that happy note...**

 **Here. Have one of Delia's pancakes.** **It's either chocolate chip or blueberry.** ***hands you virtual pancake*** **By the way, I'm working on forming a schedule sooner or later, so you won't be subject to spontaneous updates and unintentional hiatuses.**

 **I'll see you all next chapter!**


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